


Reclaimed

by Tarvera



Series: Reclaimed [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Peter Hale, Alternate Alpha Pack (Teen Wolf), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bad Alpha Derek Hale, Claiming Bites, Explicit Sexual Content, Good Peter Hale, Kidnapped Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Pack Building, Pack Feels, Post-Season/Series 02 AU, Season/Series 3 AU, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski is Pushed Out of the Pack, The Alpha Pack, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:49:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 61,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26494387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarvera/pseuds/Tarvera
Summary: The Hale pack is still fractured because of Scott’s betrayal and Derek’s refusal to give his pack the nurturing it needs. Peter knows what needs to be done but Derek refuses to do it. The alpha needs to claim the spark. Bonded, they would be able to pull the pack together and lay claim to the nemeton for the protection of the land. Time is running out so Peter makes a decision to find a way of his own. He will not let the Hale lands fall. He will claim the boy himself and build a new Hale legacy that will not break.
Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Reclaimed [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971292
Comments: 235
Kudos: 1236





	1. In Which Peter Calls Dibs

**Author's Note:**

> This all started because I wanted to see if I could write smut. Then a small plot formed. Then the plot grew legs and ran away from me. I have 8 chapters finished and am getting close to wrapping up so updates will happen fairly consistently. 
> 
> Dubious consent is because Peter isolates Stiles so Stiles really doesn’t have anyone else to give him perspective. Peter however, truly does want Stiles as his equal and mate so I don’t think this truly falls into the stockholm category. He pushes at Stiles boundaries the whole time but does wait for Stiles to come to him. Please let me know if anyone things I need to update tags with anything else in this regard. It's my first time writing a story like this and I would appreciate any feedback.
> 
> Major character death is not Peter or Stiles (I give them their happy ending)

“You should claim him.” Peter said, almost idly into the silence. Derek’s new living space is almost always silent so it feels a bit like speaking in a library. 

Derek shot his uncle a glare. “What are you talking about?” 

“Stiles, Derek. Do keep up, I know you aren’t this dense.” The beta was lounging, taking up the entire one couch that Derek had gotten for the loft. The rest of the betas plus Stiles had just left a few minutes before. Once Stiles had realized that Derek was going to be his usual surly and unhelpful self, the boy had dragged the puppies out to get food and find somewhere warm. Peter sighed, his nephew was truly an idiot when it comes to leading his pack. 

Derek is still glaring at him. Finally the alpha spoke up. “Telling me to rape a minor isn’t funny, Peter.” 

Peter rolls his eyes, the things he has to put up with now. “Good gods, nephew, when did I say anything about rape? Claim, you idiot, claim. Not rape. I feel like I truly should be concerned about your mental well being if instead of wooing to claim you jump first to force.” 

Derek growled and stalked over to the couch to loom over his uncle. Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. His nephew is as threatening as a squirrel most days and this is definitely one of those days. Instead, he raises an eyebrow and gives the boy his most charming smile. Derek growled again. “Then explain yourself better. What do you mean by claim?” 

This makes Peter sit up. “Do you now truly know? Why, Derek, I’m appalled at the lack of training Laura gave you on pack dynamics.” This causes Derek to snarl and his claws to come out. “Calm yourself, nephew, I wouldn’t want any of your betas to see and copy your lack of control. A claim is usually only made by an alpha to his intended mate. It can technically be given to anyone and usually it is just an easy way for a pack to know the hierarchy. However, mating and claiming a spark, well…” Peter trailed off wistfully, thinking of a moment in a car garage when he had been so close to getting everything he had wanted. 

“This doesn't explain anything. Why the fuck would I claim a spastic, obnoxious, underage boy?” 

Peter gave Derek his very best disappointed face. “Please don’t tell me you are truly this clueless, Stiles is not only the only thing holding your pack together at the moment but he is also a spark. The mountain ash at the club should have shown you that much at least.” 

Derek now rolled his eyes. “The ability to manipulate mountain ash doesn’t mean anything Peter. Even a half assed druid like Deaton can do that.” 

“But could a half assed druid like Deaton make more mountain ash appear to close a circle?” 

Derek huffed and began to walk away. “Regardless if he is or not, it’s ridiculous.” 

Peter got up and prowled after his nephew. “I am not playing a game here. When Deucalion returned Erica and Boyd, he told you his intentions. He wants Beacon Hills for himself, the Hale lands for himself. He and his ‘pack’ of alphas have already settled in and are toying with you and you and this ragtag group of teenagers are not enough to stop him.” 

Derek whirled back snarling and shoved Peter up against the wall. Flashing his red eyes, he growled deep. Peter deliberately kept his own eyes human and refused to submit. “You need power Derek, and Stiles is the way to get that power. It won’t even be hard, don’t you see the way he craves the attention and praise? He’s even attracted to you, and he would do anything to protect one of his people. You just need to become one of them. You are so close already, all it would take is you pulling your head out of your ass and allowing your emotions to show through.” 

“You think it’s that easy, don’t you? Just snap my fingers and he’ll come running? I won’t play this game with you Peter. Bring it up again and I’ll make you omega. Stiles isn’t even pack and won’t ever be pack. I barely tolerate his presence as it is. He’s with Scott, remember? And Scott betrayed me and the pack.” 

“But you’ll let him go off with your betas? You’ll let him feed them and help them with their homework? You know he’s even working with Jackson on control with the boy’s wolf?” Peter smirked as Derek’s eyes flashed again. It was just so easy that it almost wasn’t fun anymore to rile up his nephew. 

Derek looked like he was about to say something more when they heard clattering feet on the stairs leading to the loft. Soon, the four teenagers came laughing back inside. They were carrying pizza boxes and bags of what looked like snacks. 

“Hey sourwolf, we thought about it and decided that even grumpy alphas need to eat.” Stiles said, cheerfully, as he dropped the boxes he was carrying on what passed as a kitchen table. Taking in Derek and Peter’s positions he grinned and added, “Woah, dude, did we interrupt something here, I mean I’m not gonna lie, it’s a bit weird and kinky but I don’t judge. You do you and love who you need to love man.” Erica giggled and high fived the human while Boyd rolled his eyes at them. 

Derek whirled around and stalked towards Stiles. Peter settled against the wall, well, he had tried to help but obviously his words were going to be completely dismissed. Derek reached the human, grabbed his arm roughly and started hauling him back towards the door. Stiles frowned and twisted, trying to get away. 

“Woah, alpha man, I was just teasing, yeash, got it though. No teasing about the love time between uncle and nephew.” 

Reaching the door, Derek pulled it open and pushed Stiles through, the boy looked actually nervous now. He shot the betas a confused look, even looked over at Peter. Peter winced and looked away. He could feel how that reaction affected the human. 

“Derek, seriously, what is going on? Did you not like the kind of pizza we brought or something? Come on man, use your words.” 

“You aren’t pack Stiles.” The effect of the words on the boy were drastic and immediate. His scent soured and he flinched back. “You aren’t pack and you shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous for you and us.” 

“What…? Derek...but…” 

“No. I’ve put up with you long enough. You are just a useless human who sticks his nose into far too much trouble. Go home, Stiles and stay away from my pack.” With that Derek slammed the door shut. The clang echoed loudly through the now silent loft. They could all feel Stiles shock as he shifted for a moment before turning, heart pounding, and raced down the stairs and out to his jeep. Erica whined and turned pleading eyes to Peter. Well, isn’t that interesting. He nodded to her and slowly advanced towards the alpha. This was possibly turning out better than he had hoped for. 

“Derek…” He made his voice low and cautious, like Derek was unstable and needed to be approached with care. 

Derek turned his hard gaze to Peter and dismissively walked over to the table with the food. Isaac was fidgeting by it, looking at the ground while Boyd was alternating between giving Isaac concerned looks and Derek disapproving ones. Before Derek could say anything more Erica spoke up. 

“What the hell was that?” 

Derek sighed. “That was protecting a vulnerable human. I would have thought you and Boyd would understand just how vulnerable having a human in the pack makes us.” Both of the betas flinched, no doubt remembering their time with Gerard and watching Stiles get tortured. Peter had overheard them describing it to Isaac not long after. His lips curled up slightly, remembering how satisfying it was to tear Gerard into little pieces and scatter them across the forest. 

Derek was speaking again so he turned his focus back to the conversation. “I want you all to stay away from him. The alpha pack will get bored of us eventually and move on. But if they think Stiles is important to us they could go after him. Understand?” 

They all murmured their agreement but Peter could smell their confusion and resentment. He stopped another smile from forming. Derek was really making all of this too easy on him. While he hadn’t really thought Derek would have moved forward with claiming Stiles, he had thought the alpha was at least smart enough to see how important the human was to the pack. Derek took one of the pizza boxes and went up the stairs and away from his betas. Peter took the opportunity to slide in, soothing their worries with reassurances about Stiles’ wellbeing and also how well they were all doing with the change. He would take any chance to establish himself as the more calm and reasonable werewolf. The one who saw value where it was and the one who built up their confidence in themselves. 

The betas soaked up his words eagerly and after they had finished eating, he suggested they work on training with him. He spent the next several hours going through fighting stances and moves, taking every opportunity to both gently correct and praise when it had gone right. Feeling irritated at Derek, he wished the alpha would actually pay attention for once. These teenagers were just begging for validation, but the alpha remained oblivious to it. 

Later that night as he made his way back to his apartment he contemplated his next move. He genuinely hadn’t been planning to become alpha again after he had managed to resurrect himself. He was still recovering strength in many ways from that ordeal and also he couldn’t bring himself to attack his last remaining family member. Derek might not believe him but he did actually care about his family. Laura’s death was a constant source of nightmares. If only he’d realized sooner who she was, if only she hadn’t rejected and cut off their bond when she had left him in a coma. 

Shaking off these thoughts he let himself into his apartment. The problem was still out there. Deucalion was not going to get bored and leave. The blind alpha’s hate of Talia was too strong for him to not take the opportunity to take his revenge by claiming her old lands. Peter could not let that happen. These were Hale lands and they would stay Hale lands. 

Sinking into his, much more comfortable couch, he considered Stiles. The untrained spark was everything one could want for a pack member. He was furiously loyal, cunning, smart and had a vicious streak against those who harmed his friends. The only downside was that yes, he was still a teenager and coming with that there were plenty of times when a lack of maturity caused him to make rash decisions or react simply on emotion. However, these flaws did not outweigh the positives that would come from claiming the boy as a mate. Peter also knew something that Derek didn’t. Stiles had turned 18 at the beginning of the month, two weeks ago. Peter had overheard Erica and Boyd discussing it and then Jackson had (surprisingly) chimed in that Stiles had been held back for a year after his mother had died. Derek, in his disdain of interacting with his betas, had missed this. 

It was possible for a beta to bond with and then mate claim a spark. It was just more difficult to do as it took a lot of time and concentrated effort into establishing the bond and most of all, it had to be mutual. An alpha could force a claim upon a spark without consent, though the bond would never be as strong if it had come about naturally. But for it to work with a beta...he would have to plan this very carefully. He’d need a place to take the boy, what’s more is that he’d need a way to make Stiles compliant. 

The chips were already in play now. Derek rejecting him and driving him away from his only friends would make it easier to get a hold on him. He knew the boy was attracted to him but that wouldn’t be enough. Stiles was smart and still wary of Peter. He was sure once he had Stiles alone it wouldn’t be hard to make Stiles fall for him but he had to gain enough trust to get started. He also wasn’t sure how quickly he’d need to act. Deucalion liked to play the long game but if the blind alpha found out that Stiles was a spark...Peter shuddered, no. He would never let that happen. 

He pulled out his computer. He needed to find somewhere to go that would be hidden enough that they could stay there for as long as needed. He knew he had some time at least, he needed to wait until it was obvious to Stiles that Derek wasn’t going to relent and that everything the boy had sacrificed was for nothing. He also needed to track down the old journals and books written down by other spark emissaries to the Hale pack. He knew Deaton had refused to teach Stiles magic and Stiles was pissed off about it. Having something the boy wanted with Peter and then nothing for him left behind would keep Stiles there initially. Peter smiled to himself as he started searching for remote places for sale. 

For the first time since his resurrection, Peter felt excited about the possibilities of the future. Bonded to Stiles would mean he would be strong enough to kill an alpha. When he was an alpha again it meant that he and Stiles could bind themselves to the Nemeton which would make Peter the rightful alpha of Beacon Hills. He could do this, he could make right his mistakes and truly call this land Hale pack land again.


	2. in Which Stiles is Not Amused

It had been two weeks since Derek had kicked him out of the loft and Stiles was miserable. Two weeks since he had heard from any of Derek’s betas, including Jackson. He had been so sure at first that this had just been a weird temper tantrum of the alpha’s and in a few days he’d be able to show and Derek would just glare and grumble and everything would be back to normal. That had not happened. The betas and Derek (even Peter!) had all blocked his phone number. The one time he’d gone to the loft again Derek had been down before he’d even gotten out of his jeep. The alpha had slammed his door shut just as he was opening it then reached to grab Stiles neck with a clawed hand. 

It had been a very long time since Stiles had been actually afraid of Derek Hale but that moment when the alpha’s red eyes and fangs were inches away from his face and he could feel tiny bits of blood start to drip down his neck, he’d legitimately been terrified. That had been a week and a half ago and he hadn’t tried to contact anyone since. He had thought Scott, at least, would be thrilled by this development but his best friend had gotten back together with Allison and had barely even acknowledged Stiles’ attempt at communication. His only response had been, “That’s what you get for trusting Derek.” 

Feeling gutted, Stiles had slunk away and had given up trying to make Scott understand. The problem was that Scott had no desire to truly be part of a pack. He didn’t want any of the wolf other than the strength it gave him. His (by now probably former) best friend was happy to ignore all other parts of the wolf and was just interested in chasing after Allison. 

It was the middle of May now and finals week was approaching. Stiles had thrown himself completely into school work out of a petty need to beat Lydia for best grades this semester. The redhead had been distracted during the Peter resurrection and then Jackson’s wolfiness so wasn’t hitting her usual 4.0 heading into finals. He had hoped that while he knew now that they would never be more, he had hoped after he had helped with Jackson that they might become friends. But if anything, her disdain of him seemed to have grown. 

A knock on his front door brought him out of these melancholy thoughts and frowning he went to answer it. Much to his surprise, Peter Hale, was standing there. A bag of food was in the beta’s hand and a book was tucked under his arm. He offered Stiles a charming smile that Stiles did not give back. 

“What. Are you doing here?” 

“Charming as always, Stiles, may I come in?” 

“I thought I was persona non grata.” Stiles said, narrowing his eyes.

The beta rolled his eyes. “Please. As if Derek could ever truly order me not to something.” 

Grudgingly, Stiles moved so Peter could enter the house. Smirking, Peter moved past him and beelined to the kitchen table. Setting the food and book down, the wolf moved to start searching through the cabinets for plates. While Peter was distracted, Stiles decided to check out the book. Opening it, his eyes widened. It was a journal and a very old one at that. Carefully he started turning the pages and began to read. He was engrossed in it that he didn’t notice Peter had walked back over until the wolf practically shoved a plate of food in his face. He yelped and glared up at the man. Peter just smirked back at him. 

“I’m glad you like my gift, pet, just look at it as an apology of sorts for taking so long to contact you.” 

Setting the journal aside, Stiles started eating the fried rice and hot pepper chicken. While chewing he watched Peter as the man dug into his own food. What was Peter’s angle on this? If he was telling the truth and wasn’t at full strength, it seemed foolish to go against Derek’s orders. On the other hand, Peter had never seemed the type to meet a directive he wouldn’t wriggle his way around. 

“Why?” Stiles said finally, just deciding to dive headfirst in. 

Peter leaned back and chuckled to himself. “Why? I like you Stiles, I never lied about that. And, well, I believe my nephew is being incredibly foolish right now and he is risking losing an amazing resource and pack member in the process.” 

Stiles could help the warm feeling that washed over him at the praise. He ducked his head to hide his burning cheeks and shoved more food in his mouth as a distraction. Finally, he muttered, “I’m not that valuable.” 

Peter leaned forward and the intense gaze made Stiles freeze in place. “Yes. You are. Stiles, you have more natural pack and wolf instincts in you than any of those puppies that Derek has. I saw this when I was half mad and breaking apart. I wanted you as my pack then and I still want you as part of my pack now.” 

Stiles gulped, this was intense. It felt good though, to be validated and to be wanted. His eyes burned and he looked away again. He had never felt as wanted as he did right now with Peter. He startled slightly when he felt a hand on his, looked back at Peter he saw a softness there that he had no idea what to do with. He fell back on his natural defense of sarcasm to try and break some of the tension that was building. 

“Well, glad to know that wasn’t just a oh look, here’s a teenager that’s convenient...I think you lucked out though dude, can you imagine me as a wolf? I’d be the most spatic, uncontrolled one out there.” 

“Oh Stiles, I stand by what I said, you would make a magnificent wolf. However, that’s not what I’m looking for now.” 

“Oh..?” Stiles' mouth felt dry, his sarcasm had the opposite effect than he had intended. 

“Deaton lied to you, you know. You do have magic, it’s not just a fluke you made that barrier close at the club. You have more magic in you than Deaton would ever know what to do with. I want to help you with it, Stiles, I want you to grow into all the potential I see in you.” 

Yup, there was that intense look again. Stiles felt frozen as he looked into Peter’s eyes. He looked back down at the journal. Shit, what if what Peter said was true? Could he really have magic like that? He remembered how good it had felt that night at the jungle, the spark that had seemed to be burning under his skin when he closed the circle. 

“So this is..like an instruction book?” 

Peter smiled, “Not quite, it’s a journal of a former Hale emissary. She was a spark as well and wrote a lot of her experiences down and what it was like to serve the pack. There are some spells and exercises she talks about in there but most of it is simple stuff that she wanted to remember. I thought it would be a good start for you as you decide if this would be something you’d want.” 

“But...Derek is the alpha and he made it very clear he doesn’t want me. I...shit...Peter, I went back and...I really thought he might hurt me.” 

Peter, who had been lounging in his chair, sat up and reached out a hand again. “Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” He asked, urgently running a hand over Stiles arm and shoulder. 

“Woah, touchywolf, I’m fine, he just drew a little blood and I may have peed myself a little in fear he was going to give me even a larger lump than previous on my head from banging it into the steering wheel.” 

Peter answered this with a growl low in his throat that actually made him feel better (?). Instead of stopping to touch him, Peter just shifted closer so he could push his face directly into Stiles’ neck and took a deep breath. Stiles froze, desperately willing away the spike of arousal that rushed through him at this. Peter rumbled again but this time it sounded almost more like a purr than a growl and pulled back slowly. Turning his face, he almost bumped noises with the wolf and let out a squeak as he tried to pull back. Peter’s hand on his neck stopped him though and with a smirk the wolf leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. 

“What the hell…Peter…?” 

The wolf didn’t respond to that at all, just backed away and took his empty plate into the kitchen. Stiles continued to sit where he was and desperately tried to process what had just happened. Peter came back towards the table, brushed his hand one last time over Stiles head and neck before heading towards the door. Before he walked out, he turned back and said, “I do hope you enjoy the journal Stiles, I’ll be seeing you around, I’m sure.” Then with a wink the wolf was gone. Leaving Stiles to wonder what the fuck had just happened. 

The journal ended up being absolutely fascinating and by the end of the week he had read through it three times. He had to be careful not to let his intensive magic research distract from his finals but he thought he did an ok job at it. He also had some mountain ash to practice with now. Two days after Peter had left the journal Stiles had come home to find a jar of ash on his pillow with a note on it that said, “hope you enjoy your practice sweetheart, think of me when you do.” He had spent the rest of the week not obsessively thinking over why Peter was calling him these pet names. 

Three weeks later he was no closer to figuring out what Peter had been trying to but he was done with finals. He’d managed to balance reading the journal with his studying and he was feeling pretty confident in his grades. He was getting pretty good with the mountain ash now as well. Not that he had any left at this point...he’d be practicing out in the preserve and well, clumsiness was not something that it looked like he was going to grow out of. 

He hadn’t seen Peter again which was making him wonder if what happened was a fluke. He’d been sort of hoping to bug the wolf into getting him more ash or telling him where to get more. He tried not to get anxious about the other possibility which is that Derek found out and Peter was injured or dead. 

It was late afternoon of the second day after school was out and he had just heard his dad drive in and park. Feeling surprised and a little apprehensive he waited until he heard the back door open and shut before gently setting the journal down and started to get up before pausing. Did he really want to go down there? He and his dad were still on rocky footing after the kanima, station masacre, and Gerard torture session. They had hardly spoken since the end of March and on top of everything else going on, Stiles just didn’t know how to fix it. 

Hand hovering over the door knob, he steeled himself and went downstairs. His dad was at the kitchen table, having pulled out some of the leftovers from the dinner Stiles had made the night before. His dad sat back as Stiles walked into the kitchen and raised his eyebrows. Stiles dithered around for a couple moments, grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and hesitantly made his way to the table. 

“Hey...dad…” 

His dad gave a deep sigh and set his sandwich down. “What is it now?” 

“Uh, what do you mean?” 

“What I mean is, son, you have that same look on your face as when you tried to sell me that ridiculous story about lizard people and wolf things.” 

Stiles flinched, shit, he’d been really hoping by his dad’s silence on the matter they were never going to bring up his ill advised attempt to tell his dad the truth again. “...Uh...nope, not gonna do that, err...haha, just can’t a son talk to his dad without ulterior motives?” 

“You? No. And unless you are actually going to tell me the truth of what happened the night you got beat up and that ‘prank’ with Jackson, no, we have nothing to talk about.” 

Feeling gutted and hollow, Stiles stared at the table, tracing over the wood patterns with a finger. He was also starting to feel something else burn under his skin, anger. He knew he had the propensity to stretch the truth and to bullshit his way through things, but for his dad to completely not trust him at all? He didn’t deserve this level of rage, especially when he had actually tried to tell the truth and been completely dismissed. 

Looking up, he finally said, “I did. Tell the truth I mean. I did tell you the truth and you didn’t even give me a chance to prove it. You just decided that I was lying because I guess you think that’s all I do. You don’t trust me. Fine. Good thing I’m 18 now and you don’t have to put up with your failure of a son anymore.” 

Shoving up out of his chair, he stormed up the stairs and started to throw clothes and random other items into his duffle bag. It felt like something in him finally snapped. He was just done, done with Beacon Hills and all this crap. Done with a best friend who only wanted him when it was convenient. Done with Derek Hale and his failure of a pack. And done with a father who couldn’t even tell when his son was desperate to be believed. As he was packing, he heard his dad’s car start back up and drive away. 

“Well, isn’t this just wonderfully convenient.” 

Stiles yelped, whirled out, tripped over the pile of clothes he had pulled out and fell over. Glaring up into the smug face of Peter Hale, he untangled himself and stood back up. As he stood up, Peter crowded into his space until their bodies were almost pressed together. Stiles turned red and hastily backed away, feeling a bit like a rabbit caught in a wolf’s gaze. The look in Peter’s eyes was making him nervous. 

“Look zombiewolf, I just don’t have the energy to deal with your creepy mind games right now. Can you just not?” 

“Oh Stiles.” Peter practically purred the words as he stalked forward, his eyes were shining bright blue. Stiles’ back hit the wall with a light thump but Peter kept moving until he had Stiles completely caged in. Peter’s hand came up and ran over Stiles’ face and neck, making the teen shiver from the contact. Peter’s smile grew predatory as he pressed up against Stiles fully now. 

“Whaa...what are you doing?” Stiles squeaked as Peter leaned down to press his lips against Stiles’ neck. 

Pulling back a little, but keeping his hand around the back of the boy’s neck, the man just continued to smirk. Stiles tried to squirm out of the hold but that only served to make his arousal more obvious. Turning red at Peter’s knowing look, he let his head thump back against the wall. 

“Look, Peter, seriously, what is going on? This is not funny. I just had a horrible moment and I’m…” He trailed off, saying out loud sounded so final. 

“Leaving?” Peter finished, sounding smug. “I know, I heard. I’m here to offer somewhere to go.” 

“What? No way in hell.” Stiles fruitlessly pushed against the (very) muscled chest in front of him. “Dude, this is so not happening. I may have been completely abandoned by all my friends but I’m not this desperate.” 

“Oh Stiles, I think it is. And I think you have very little choice in the matter.” The words turned Stiles’ blood to ice as Peter’s eyes got cold and the hand at the back of his neck squeezed warningly. “I like you, Stiles, I really do and I think you’ll come to enjoy your time with me. I wish we had time for me to show you that I’m trustworthy and I have the pack’s best intentions at heart. But unfortunately, Deucalion is circling and, due to poor judgement on Derek and his useless betas, he has caught wind of you. I cannot give him the time to discover what you are. So we are leaving together, right now. It is your choice if you walk out of here on your own power or I drag you out.” 

Anger made Stiles stupid, which is what he blamed for the “Fuck you.” that came out instead of quietly going along with Peter and waiting for an opportunity to get away later. Peter just rolled his eyes and before Stiles could process anything, he’d been thrown onto the bed on his stomach and the wolf was twisting his arms behind him. Opening his mouth to scream he found cloth stuff into it and then another band of fabric shoved in and tied around his face. Peter’s attention turned back to his hands and soon they were restrained along with his legs and ankles. Panic was beginning to set in and Stiles thrashed. 

A hard hand, pricked with claws on the back on his neck, made him freeze. “I know you aren’t this stupid. I know this has been a difficult several months for you and your father’s simply appalling behavior earlier did not help matters. I don’t want to hurt you, Stiles, I am trying to help you. If there was another way to do this I would but I cannot risk Deucalion getting you. The things that an alpha can do with a spark are not something you ever want to experience. Now, lie here, quietly for a moment and I’ll finish packing your bag.” 

The next several minutes felt like hours as Stiles heard, but couldn’t see Peter move around his room. He didn’t know if he should believe the wolf or not. Eventually, he heard Peter leave the room. When the wolf returned it was to haul Stiles up and over his shoulder and bring the boy down the stairs and hurriedly shoved into the open back of the jeep with the door slammed shut behind him. As Peter started driving Stiles couldn’t decide what he hoped for more, Peter to get pulled over or for the wolf to get away free. He kept himself from panicking by memorizing the turns they were taking so he could figure out where they were going. They were headed north, out of Beacon Hills and towards the Trinity lake and the wilderness area. 

He must have dozed off because a thud and bump as Peter took them off the paved road made him startled awake painfully. He had a brief panic before he remembered what had happened and just tried to brace himself somehow against the sides of the jeep to limit the bruising that was sure to occur from all the bouncing. Jeeps were not made for people to be tied up and ride in the back. Eventually Peter pulled them to stop and got out. Stiles was so emotionally exhausted at this point he didn’t even flinch when the back to the jeep was opened and Peter hauled him out. 

The ropes on his hands and legs were quickly and efficiently cut off with claws and the gag taken out of his mouth. He almost fell over from the numbness and clung to Peter as the wolf soothingly rubbed his numb wrists and took the pain when the cramps started. Finally, he was able to shakily stand on his and Peter let go as he pushed the wolf away. Warily looking at the stone faced wolf in front of him, he side eyed his surroundings. There wasn’t much to go on, they were at what looked like a deserted forestry road, he could hear the rush of water somewhere in the distance, but none of this meant much considering the area of the State they were in. 

“Are you ready to be more reasonable now?” 

Stiles glared, wishing (not for the first time) that he was capable of growling. “You mean reasonably allowing you to abduct me?” 

“I suppose you could call it that if you were feeling overly melodramatic.” 

Flinging his arms into the air, Stiles resisted the urge to scream. “Oh my god. You are -- Erg…” He put his head in his hands and tried to regulate his breathing. He didn’t know how to feel about this situation. He thought he should be a lot more terrified than he was but his primary emotion at the moment seemed to be a mix between righteous anger and bone crushing sadness if he let his mind start to think about the earlier conversation with his dad or Scott or Derek or...Peter’s hands on his shoulders made him realize he had started to cry. Weakly he shoved at the werewolf but Peter just made soothing rumbles and pulled Stiles gently towards himself. Giving in, Stiles buried his head in Peter’s shoulder and clung to him. Distantly, his rational side was screaming at him for giving in but in this moment, he couldn’t muster up the energy to care. 

He wasn’t sure how long it was until he’d managed to pull himself together enough to take a couple of steps back from Peter. The wolf let him go without resistance which soothed something in him that he hadn’t realized he had needed. He gave Peter a half resigned, half irritated look. 

“So, what’s the next step in your grand kidnap Stiles plan?” 

Peter smiled at him sharply. “Now, we walk for a ways.” Seeing Stiles look around the swiftly darkening forest skeptically, the wolf’s grin turned into a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about the darkness, I’ll be right there to guide you through it.” 

“See, I know you think that’s reassuring but it’s really just creepy dude. Also, no way in hell we are leaving my baby just sitting here.” 

“I’m afraid you will have to. Don’t worry, I have a trustworthy acquaintance coming to pick it up in the morning. I would bring it with us but it is just too unique and recognizable for us to continue in.” Seeing Stiles about to object further Peter let his eyes flash. “I do hope we have moved past the part where I show you just how not in control of this situation you are in.” Stiles let his mouth click shut and with one last glare and mournful look at his jeep he stalked away from it. 

Peter’s hand was on his arm before he could get more than a few steps in. The wolf tugged towards the sound of running water and with one last glare and sigh, Stiles let himself be tugged off to who knows where.


	3. In Which Peter's Plans are in Ruins (sort of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here be some smut. First attempt at writing it so any constructive criticism would be helpful (but please be kind to me!)

The silence was beginning to really bother Peter as he and Stiles made their careful way through the forest towards where Peter had a car ready to go. He inwardly cursed again for the unexpected and not pleasurable meeting with Deucalion that started this chain of events much earlier than he had been planning on. He had a plan, dammit, and it was a beautiful plan. Now he’s beginning to worry that the entire plan will be worthless before he’d barely gotten started. He’d been expecting to have to force the first part of the journey but he thought that by this part he’d at least be able to start back in on the wooing aspect. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d been banking on how the boy’s anger and curiosity both seemed to be aroused by danger in order to get a conversation going. This resigned dejection that was coming off the teen in waves was definitely not what Peter had been expecting or wanting. 

After the silence had stretched on again for another ten minutes, Peter added a few curses for Noah Stilinski along with those at the so called ‘alpha of alphas’. When Peter had first heard the man lay into his son he had thought that it was incredibly fortounis timing. What better way to convince Stiles to go with him than when it had been made so clear that the boy was not wanted where he was. Peter added a couple of curses against him at this point too. If he hadn’t been so caught off guard by Deucalion then maybe he wouldn’t have rushed things with Stiles and maybe this could have gone a little better. 

When they reach the river that flows into Trinity Lake, Peter debates this next step in the plan before deciding that yes they really need to go through with it. Perhaps he’s being paranoid but with the potential of multiple wolves hunting them he can’t take any chances. Stiles’ scent at least changes as the teen looks at the churning water. It’s fuller than usual due to the uncommon amount of snowfall the mountains had that winter. 

“Uh, Peter, in case you hadn’t noticed I’m not exactly river proof. Or impervious to cold. Or --” 

“You’ll be fine.” Peter interrupted the flow of words curtly though inwardly pleased to hear Stiles talking at last. 

“Yeah no, dude, look --” 

“Take off your clothes.” Peter said, while dragging his own shirt off. The squawk of protest followed by a sharp flare of arousal made Peter smirk as he started to take off his pants. 

“No, no! Not happening like ever creeperwolf, I mean, shit, wait, Peter!” 

Now naked, except for his boxers, Peter had advanced towards Stiles and roughly started to pull off his shirt and hoodie. Ignoring the muffled curses from the teen, he soon had them off and his hands were undoing Stiles belt when the boy managed to get an elbow free to whack him in the face. Letting go of the now undone pants, Peter growled, grabbed the offending appendage and landed Stiles with a thump on the forest floor underneath him. He sighed deeply as the boy scrambled to try and push himself up even though he was on his stomach and Peter had one arm firmly captured behind Stiles’ back. 

“I really don’t understand why you are still insistent on fighting this. The sooner you give in and do as I say, the sooner we can be somewhere warm and homey and safe. Now, I need us to take off our clothes because Deucalion is the best tracker I have ever met. Even if we get our clothes fully submerged, our scent will still cling to them. We dump them here, cross the water, cover ourselves with a special mixture I have prepared and on the other side then make our way to the car I have waiting.” 

Stiles had given up struggling through this and was just lying panting now beneath Peter. Peter had to bite back a groan as want rushed through him. The instinct to claim and take was so strong but he had to wait. He pulled back and got off, willing his arousal down for the moment. He needed to be patient, Stiles had to understand first what this would be between them. The boy in question, slowly pushed himself up and turned to face Peter warily. 

“Why?” 

“Excuse me?” Of all the questions for Stiles to ask Peter had not been expecting that one. He’d been sure the boy would start in demanding explanations for everything Peter had just described but this exhausted why, startled him. 

“You heard me. Why? Why do you care about whether or not this Duecally guy gets me? I mean, shit, this is a lot of work to go through so I know you didn’t put this all together tonight, you had to have been planning this for weeks if not months. So. Why?” Stiles had gotten closer as he was speaking and was now only a few inches from Peter. 

Peter let out the smile of pleasure curl around his lips. “This is why, Stiles, because you are oh so clever and brilliant. You have so much potential for so much more than that useless pack of my nephews or sell out druid could ever give you. You have a spark, Stiles, of magic. Deucalion is only after you right now because he discovered my interest and he knows I don’t just get interested in a human without good cause. I had to get you out quickly before he discovered that magic. I promise I will explain everything to you, yes, I have been planning this. I saw how everyone was isolating you. My plan was to explain this all to you before we left but…” 

He stopped talking as he saw Stiles begin to tremble slightly in front of him. “Fuck…” The boy whispered, and backed away. After a few seconds though, he seemed to pull himself together and started dragging off his shoes then pants and boxers. Finally turning around to face Peter again he threw his arms out and said, “Ok, zombiewolf, you win. Let’s go on a freezing swim through a dangerous river together. The place you’re taking me to better have a hot tub or whirlpool tub though.” 

Peter sneered back at Stiles. “Like I would ever stay in a place that didn’t.” Reaching over he grabbed Stiles’ hand and pulled the now unresisting teen over to the edge of the river. Shucking off his own boxers, he turned his back towards Stiles. “Wrap your legs around my hips and arms on shoulders, leave the neck alone.” 

Stiles made a face but obeyed. As soon as he felt Stiles get a good hold, he jumped into the river. He may have enjoyed a little too much the panicked shriek Stiles let out as they landed with a splash in the water. 

“Oh my god, Peter! holy shit, shit, fuck…” The litany of curses continued for the entire swim across, only stopping when the boy would get a mouthful of water which would lead to spluttered outrage. By the time he got to the other side, Peter was panting himself for breath and Stiles had chattering teeth. With one last surge, Peter toppled them up on the dry ground and lay there panting next Stiles. Wishing sourly that he already had his alpha powers as this whole thing would have been a lot easier with them, he was about to get up when a wet nose was shoved into his neck and Stiles’ freezing body was thrown half over him. 

“Soooo cold...Peter...why are you so warm...make me warm.” 

Resting a hand on Stiles’ back and slowly dragging it down the boy’s back, he smirked. “Are you sure about that Pet? You may not like what the fastest way to make that happen is...but, I can promise you’ll enjoy it.” As he said this last part, he turned his head and pressed a gentle kiss to Stiles’ wet ear. 

Stiles’ scent had a faint air of interest but he just tried to mumble more complaints into Peter’s neck. Peter wrapped both arms around Stiles and pulled his body so it was lying completely on top of him. He was starting to get hard and could feel Stiles’ growing interest as well. Continuing to run his hands up and down Stiles’ back while placing increasingly stronger kisses into his neck. Stiles moaned slightly and gasped as Peter kneaded his ass. 

“Fuck...Peter…” 

“Want to finish getting warm? Or should I just leave you in this hard place?” 

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you just said that, that was terrible.” 

Peter just chuckled and kneaded Stiles’ ass again. The moan of pleasure he got in response made him gowl and roll them over Trapping Stiles’ hands on either side of the boy’s head, Peter smirked down at him. Stiles’ eyes were blown wide now and Peter could smell and taste the arousal wafting off of him. Growling, he went in to lick and suck at the boy’s neck. Stiles let out an almost shocked moan and arched his back and head. Taking the opportunity to kiss fervently up to his cheekbones, Peter finally let go of a hand to start running it up and down the boy’s body. 

“Peter, fuck! Shit, Peter.” Stiles writhed under him and tangled a hand in his hair and held onto it as if it was the only thing keeping him from flying apart. Pressing down, Peter let his erection grind into Stiles’ hip then dragged it up to the stomach. Peppering kisses, mixed with bites and licks, Peter began to make his way down Stiles’ body, reveling in the sensitive reactions to his touch. This was everything he wanted right here and now. Groaning when he reached Stiles happy trail, he brought down his hands to run them over the bite marks he’d left in the wake of his mouth. 

“Peter! Please...more, Peter, shit, please!” 

Breathing hotly over Stiles’ erection, Peter paused and looked up. What he saw made his blood rush south. Stiles lay there panting, straining up for friction, redness and bite marks littered his body. With a last growl, Peter took the boy fully in mouth and sucked down hard. Stiles made a choked whimper as his hips bucked up involuntarily. Peter just continued to suck and lick until Stiles was coming with another cry. Pulling off, Peter frantically palmed his own dick until he came with a tight hot pulse. Sagging down, he crawled back up Stiles’ limp form to kiss the boy firmly on the lips. Stiles returned it as best he could but Peter could tell exhaustion was overtaking him. 

It was with great effort, he made himself sit back up. Rolling off Stiles, he went to retrieve the jars he had stashed there. It held a concoction he’d gotten from a witch up in Seattle. It’s purpose was to completely mask their scent. He vaguely reflected, that he probably shouldn’t have gotten his come all over Stiles in case that could break through the scent. With a grumble, he picked up some leaves and went to wet them in the river. 

When he got back to Stiles, the boy had sat up and was wincing as he contorted, trying to reach something on his back. Peter just raised his eyebrows in question. “Don’t just stand there Uncle Bad Touch, I think I got a stick impaled in my back. Never doing this in the woods again. I am so gross right now.” 

Peter rolled his eyes and went to inspect Stiles’ back. No impaled sticks, but definitely a lot of scratches. He hummed thoughtfully as he pulled some of the pain away. “I notice you just made the caveat not doing this in the woods again. Open to playing in bed, are you?” He smirked at Stiles’ blush and glare. He helped Stiles stand up and took the opportunity to capture the boy’s mouth in a demanding kiss. Stiles hesitated only a moment before kissing back just as feverishly. Stepping back Peter took a moment to enjoy his handiwork before getting back to business. Turning Stiles around he started to rub the mixture into the boy’s skin. 

“What the hell is that smell? Ow, ow, ow, Peter!” Peter just pulled Stiles snug to him and kept rubbing, turning him when he needed turning. Stiles made token protests but he could tell that the boy was distracted by ogling Peter’s body. When he had finished with Stiles, he held the jar out with a challenging gaze. Glaring, Stiles grabbed it and repeated the process over Peter. 

Feeling pleased that he’d manage to get Stiles to start talking again, even if it was constant grumbling and cursing, Peter then scooped him up over his shoulder and started towards the car. Stiles yelped and scrambled for a minute before giving up and just holding on. 

“You know I can walk, dude, seriously, you don’t just get to have sex with me when I’m half mad and dying with frostbite and then think you have the right to manhandle me however you want to.” 

Peter chuckled and jostled Stiles slightly, enjoying the yelp it produced. “Oh is that how you are justifying what happened? Poor Stiles, couldn’t stop the big bad wolf from making him plead and whine because he was addled by the cold.” He gave another snort and slapped Stiles lightly on the ass. Stiles yelped and tried to twist away. Peter just turned his head and pressed a kiss to the boy’s hip. 

“Oh my god, you are the worst of the worsts…” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Sweetheart.” 

The rest of the walk was mostly silent. Exhaustion seemed to set in for Stiles and he only made cursory grumbles here and there. Peter was ecstatic though, what had started as a disaster of a day was looking up. This might not all be ruined after all. He knew he would still have to proceed carefully. A quick blowjob in the woods, even after the adrenaline pumping swim and release of the earlier fear, wasn’t enough to make Stiles trust him. However, it had opened a physical door that Peter was going to take complete advantage of. 

By the time they got to the car, it was getting fairly late. He set Stiles gently on the ground and pulled out sweat pants and shirts. Using wipes he got off most of the gunk of both of them before getting dressed. Stiles was stumbling but still mostly coherent for this part but soon Peter had him tucked into the passenger seat with the seatbelt on and had pulled out and was heading north again. 

The drive to the house Peter had prepared took them almost six hours. Stiles had drifted off the sleep not long after they got going. When they did arrive Peter, though exhausted, was determined to get the fake scents off them so managed to get Stiles awake enough to maneuver them both through showering and redressing before collapsing into bed. He curled up tightly around Stiles and pressed his face into the back of the boy’s neck. Releasing a happy rumble, he drifted off surrounded by the scent of pack. 

He was awoken to a squirming Stiles trying to get out of his arms. He growled and held on tighter. For one, he still felt linger exhaustion and for two, he was not ready to lose the warm comfort of cuddling with a pack member. “Peter! Come on, growlywolf, I gotta pee...Peter…” With a last growl he let go and the boy scrambled his way to the bathroom. 

Idly wondering if Stiles ever actually moved like a normal person or if it was also done in some sort of half scrambling fall, Peter gave in and opened his eyes. The light was strong enough that he guessed it was somewhat close to noon. Groaning, he shoved off the covers and rolled over. Thinking about the night before he began to get hard again. Breathing in deep, he grinned, Peter could tell that Stiles’ was dealing with his own arousal and was now dithering in the bathroom. Peter grinned to himself and shucked his shirt off and rolled down his pants to pull out his cock. Sitting up against the pillows, he began to slowly stroke himself. When Stiles finally came back into the room, he froze, face flushing as he took in Peter. 

Smirking, Peter said, “Well, pet, I do believe you owe me a return favor for me warming you up last night.” 

“But...umm...you didn’t…” Stiles spluttered, his eyes frantically roving around the room. Peter raised an eyebrow in challenge. 

“What’s the matter, sweet thing? Afraid of not being able to handle it?” 

It did the trick. Stiles turned a glare on him and determinedly started moving up the bed. As he got closer, Peter reached down to pull him up close enough to kiss first. Letting go of his cock, he tangled both hands in the boy’s hair and leaned into the kiss. The reaction was immediate. Stiles moaned and didn’t utter any protest as Peter guided him down towards his dick. Before he got there, Peter paused to tug off Stiles’ shirt, he grinned as he brought a hand down to skim over the bruises he’d marked into the pale skin. Stiles shivered under his touch, looking up at Peter, pupils blown wide and heartbeat beating wildly. 

“Have you ever done this before, pet?” He asked as he finished guiding Stiles down to his cock. The boy licked it, causing him to cant up his hips and moan slightly. Stiles gave him a wicked grin and started to wrap his lips around it. Peter felt like he was going to come right then and there, just seeing those lips wrap around the head of his cock was making all his blood boil up in anticipation. To distract himself, he gave a sharper yank on the hair, ignoring the boy’s scowl he asked again. “I asked you a question, pet, it’s rude not to answer.” 

Stiles flushed again and ended up mumbling into Peter’s thigh his answer. “Maybe…” 

With a slight frown as Stiles’ scent had switched to filter in anxiety and shame. Peter rubbed his hand through Stiles’ hair trying to soothe him and decided to let it go for now. Slowly Stiles’ scent came back to low arousal and pleasure and Peter slowly pulled up Stiles’s face too get a good look at it. 

There was a myriad of emotions cycling through Stiles right now and though all his instincts were screaming at him to just get going with it, there was another voice telling him that he needed to make sure of something first. If he wanted Stiles to be his completely, this couldn’t just be his usual manipulation to get what he wanted. He had to be better to win Stiles as a mate and not just as a fuck toy. 

Carefully, He pulled Stiles back up to straddle his lap so he could look him in the eyes. “You know you don’t have to do this, Stiles, this is not contingent on being here. I will help you learn your magic regardless. If this isn’t a game that we both enjoy playing then I’ll stop right now.” 

Shaking slightly, Stiles closed his eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them and responding. “I...I do want this...shit, I don’t know why but I want it so much. I just...is that all this is to you? A game? I’m not a thing or a prize Peter, or something to just get a rush out of and then thrown away --” 

Peter’s unintentional rumble cut Stiles off. He forced down his first instinctive urge to lay complete claim and instead went for a slightly less permanent statement. “Stiles, I have never seen you as a thing or a prize, from that moment in the school when you taunted a raging monster that you’d managed to trap with a cheap trick, I wanted you. I don’t think I’ll --” 

Stiles pressed forward into a desperate kiss. It was all tongue and teeth and inexperience but Peter loved every second of it just the same. He let Stiles shove him back into the pillows and just worked on kissing back with all that he had in him. He let his hands slip in the waistband of Stiles’ sleep pants, reveling in the hitch of breath as Stiles thrust into his touch. Feeling the urgent need for them to touch each other, he let out of his claws and tore through the front of the pants before gripping both their dicks together in his hand. Stiles made a delightful, strangled noise and his head thumped against Peter’s shoulder. 

Switching hands, Peter used the other to reach towards the bedside table to pull out the lube he’d tucked there on his visit to stock up the place. Making sure to never stop the steady pressure on their dicks with his left hand he got the bottle opened and just poured it straight in between them. “Gah, col--” He dove in for a kiss before Stiles could finish, dropping the bottle and using that hand to tangle up in Stiles’ hair. His grip tightened as Stiles moaned and he tugged backwards so he could work in the bruises deeper on the neck in front of him. Feeling his release hit him hard and he grunted through it, Stiles was only seconds behind him. Letting go to rub both hands all over the body in front of him, he felt deep contentment as Stiles slumped forward with a low moan. 

Grinning, Peter manhandled the now pliant body around and back under the covers. He let Stiles flop onto his back and then entangled their limbs together. Peppering him with light kisses as he tried to start complaining about being sticky and gross, Peter managed to get him to drift back off to sleep. Feeling incredibly smug, Peter just laid there for a few moments. He really did make the best of plans.


	4. In Which Stiles Learns a Lot

Stiles groaned as he woke up for the second time that day. His first thought was that instead of needing to desperately pee, was that he was desperately hungry. His second thought was that he was really sticky and kind of gross.The person responsible for this gross state of being was nowhere to be seen at the moment. Making sure to grumble out loud about stupid smug wolfs who don’t know anything about hygiene, he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. 

While in the shower, he allowed himself to have a few moments of panic as all the previous night’s events caught up to him. What the hell was he thinking? He’d just had sex with Peter Hale! Twice! Ugg...he was such a moron. This was the man who instead of using his words like a normal, sane and well adjusted person had literally tied him up and thrown him in a car trunk. Scrubbing himself thoroughly, as if that somehow made all this better, Stiles morosely realized it was because he was weak. So, so weak when it came to the hot Hale men. He couldn’t even promise himself it wouldn’t happen again because damm, Peter was hot, and more than that Peter wanted him. 

He knew his self esteem was pretty fucked up on a good day, so it should be no surprise to himself that knowing that Peter wanted him more than just a conquest was all that it took for him to fold like a deck of cheap cards. Also, yesterday had not been a good day. Remembering the fight with his dad was sobering and enabled him to pull himself out of the pit of self recrimination and out of the shower. 

He had to walk back into the bedroom naked and search through the drawers of both dressers in there to find clothes. What he found made him feel even more confused about everything. Peter had filled one entire dresser with clothes that were somehow in his size. What the hell. Not just sleep clothes, but jeans, hiking pants, socks, underwhere, shirts and hoodies...Feeling both incredibly taken care of and completely creeped out, he dressed quickly and went down a fucking circle staircase to the main level of the pimped out cabin they were in. 

Peter was in the kitchen making food, shirtless. Peter turned and smirked at him like he knew exactly what was running through Stiles’ mind at the moment. Yeah, he was totally going to have sex with Peter again. Dammit, body, why did it betray him like this? Deciding to try as best he could to push the plethora of confusing feelings about Peter aside and focus on filling his stomach. Which unfortunately, meant interacting with the source of his super conflicted feelings. Who was currently placing a large plate filled with eggs, sausage and fruit in front of him. 

Stiles eagerly dove into the food and didn’t look back up until he was halfway through it. Peter had also placed a mug of coffee in front of him sometime during this and he inhaled that gratefully as well. When he was somewhat sated he looked up again at Peter, who was casually leaning against the counter and eating his own food. When their eyes met, Stiles felt himself blushing again. Looking away, he latched onto something that would hopefully put off any discussion about the morning’s events. 

“Sooo….what exactly is the plan here? I’m going to learn magic and you are going to…?” 

“Help you learn magic, of course.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Oh of course, because you know so much about magic.” 

“How do you think I was able to resurrect myself?” 

That pulled him up short and he eyed Peter speculatively. “That’s true. You gonna tell me how you did that?” 

“And where would the fun be in that, pet? You’ll just have to figure that one out by yourself.” 

“Stop calling me that.” He said, giving Peter an annoyed look. The wolf just grinned and leaned forward, lighting brushing the top of Stiles’ fingers with his own. An involuntary shiver made its way through him. Peter’s grin just widened. 

“What would you rather I call you?” Peter murmured at him. “Sweetheart? Darling? Baby?” 

“No, none of those...nothing, just nothing…” Stiles said, feeling slightly out of his depth again. He should have known better than to say anything about it. 

Peter, thankfully, didn’t linger on the issue. Though Stiles wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d managed to get Peter to stop it with the pet names. The wolf instead stood up, stretching in a way that made his muscles roll as he did. Stiles hastily put his head back down to finish his breakfast. A hand on his neck made him jump up and sideways, it was only luck that Peter’s body kept him from tumbling to the floor. Peter, the asshole, just chuckled before tilting Stiles’ head up to claim a very thorough kiss. By the time he’d pulled away Stiles was panting slightly and definitely getting hard again. Peter just smirked at him. 

“Finish your breakfast, pretty boy, I’m heading up to shower. You’ll find some books of interest over by the fireplace. I thought we’d take it easy on this first day, you can take a look over the material and we can make a plan for what we want to tackle first.” 

Stiles just nodded as Peter sauntered back up the stairs to the bathroom. As soon as he was alone, Stiles let his head thump on the counter. He was totally having sex with Peter again. Hopefully tonight and hopefully he’d be able to get Peter to help him with some particular fantasies he’d had about werewolf strength and sex. 

The afternoon passed as Peter predicted. Stiles worked through the books Peter had in a bit of a frenzy and soon had them all spread out on the floor with several notebooks with scribbles on them in many different colors (Peter had actually gotten him a few packs of multi colored pens which had made him almost jump the wolf right then). Peter made them dinner and now Stiles had gone back to the books to continue his summary notes of each one. His plan was to get an overall idea of what was in each one so he could pick which ones he wanted to tackle first. He happened to look up at one point and his jaw dropped as Peter meandered by in a towel to sit on the chair in front of Stiles and smirk. 

“Uh...what are you doing?” 

“You did say that I better have a hot tub, which I assume meant you wanted to try it out at some point.” 

Indecision warred inside his brain. On the one hand, potentially sexy hot tub time with Peter, on the other hand...magic! Books! He was definitely about to pick books when Peter rolled his eyes and stood back up, letting the towel fall to show off his very naked body. Shit. Hot tub it was. Determined to not let Peter get away with such blatant manipulation so easily though, he sat back on his heels and furrowed his brow at the books in front of him. 

“I think I’ll pass. I’m just starting to get somewhere with all these books, I don’t want to get distracted.” After saying this, he started to flop back down on his stomach when hands gripped him under the armpits and pulled him up and back to pin him against the couch back. He grinned into Peter’s unamused face even as he felt arousal start to spike through him. 

“Is that what you really want to do Stiles? Study?” Peter leaned forward when he said this and licked up Stiles’ neck to his ear. He shuddered under the touch and whining clutched at Peter’s bare chest. 

“I just really need to do this quickly, the studying I mean...I probably shouldn’t be away from home for that long and --” 

With a growl, Peter kissed him as his hands roughly grabbed at Stiles’ belt and pants to start pushing them down. He tried to wriggle out of the wolf’s hold but didn’t try all that hard. He was enjoying being pushed around far more than he ever thought he would. Peter just growled again and pulled Stiles’ shirt halfway off him so he was trapped in it while his pants were only halfway down his legs. Suddenly, he was in the air and thrown over a shoulder while being carried up the stairs.

“Peter! Arg, I can’t see! Shit, dude… AH!” The last part was from a hard slap on his ass. 

“Don’t call me dude.” Peter growled out and he found himself dropped on stomach down on something soft. Just as he managed to pull off his shirt Peter dragged his pants off completely. Suddenly, Peter’s hands and mouth seemed to be everywhere at once on his back, his neck, his ass and thighs. He could do nothing but just lie there moaning and twisting in the sheets and taking everything Peter gave him. He heard a popping noise and then fingers were massaged in between his ass cheeks. He tensed and was about to let out a yelp but then warm, lube coated fingers were on his cock and instead he let out a moaning cry and came hard. 

A finger breached his hole in the middle of him coming and he shuddered and tried to fall limp. The hand on his cock, switched though to hold his waist up as the finger in the hole just kept moving around. He was starting to shake with a mix of pleasure and pain that felt so good but almost too much. Another finger pushed in beside the first and he let out a cry and spasmed slightly as Peter found his prostate. He’d managed to get at it a couple times before with toys but nothing felt like Peter’s fingers continually brushing over it. 

“Peter, Peter, please...oh fuck, oh shit…” he wasn’t even fully aware of what he was saying anymore, he just knew he was letting out a constant stream of babble. Peter didn’t seem to mind though. 

“That’s it, pretty boy, look at you, all wound up just from my fingers, think about how my cock is going to feel in there, filling you up, nice and full.” 

“Yes...please Peter…” 

“Oh baby, I will, don’t worry, just not tonight, baby, I need to get you used to this first, used to me being inside you and stretching you out all nice and beautiful before me. Can you get hard for me again, sweetheart? Get nice and hard for me?” 

“Yes, yes, anything, Peter...yes…” 

Stiles was already starting to get hard again and now Peter’s hand was massaging his cock again and he felt the pressure building up more and more until finally it was just all too much and he came again with a loud cry. Peter eased his cock through it then let him fall onto the bed. The fingers were removed and he whined at their loss. 

“Shh...sweetheart, I’ve got you, just a minute sweetheart, I’m still going to use that sweet ass of yours tonight. Don’t worry.” 

He heard the pop of lube again and then felt Peter straddling his legs and starting to rub himself off between his ass cheeks. He moaned again and tried to push back but felt so weightless and airy he couldn’t get his muscles to cooperate. Peter was rumbling, deep in his chest and then Stiles felt warmth on his back and the hitch of breath that was Peter coming. When he finished, he collapsed on top of him and started to press gentle kisses to his neck and shoulders. 

“Wha...what happened to hot tub…?” Stiles finally managed to slur out. 

Peter huffed into his neck. “You were much too tempting, beautiful, I couldn’t take you in there until I ruined you.” 

The weight shifted off of him then but soon a washcloth started to run over his back and ass. Hands turned him over and started to do the same to his front. Feeling content and sated he grinned up at Peter. 

“You are so bad for me but I can’t seem to stop myself from liking it.” 

“Oh pet, I could be the best thing that ever happened to you.” 

“There’s that ego again, I missed you Peter’s ego.” 

Rolling his eyes, Peter huffed again before pulling Stiles’ pliant body up into a bridal carry. He carried him out on the deck off their room. He carefully climbed into the hot tub while settling Stiles on his lap. Leaning back, he let his head rest on Peter’s shoulder and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of being held and cared for. Peter had a low rumble going on somehow in his chest that was incredibly soothing to lay against. 

After a little while had passed, Peter broke the silence and asked. “Stiles, this morning when I asked you to blow me and then if you’d done it before --” 

Stiles stiffened and tried to pull off. No, no, no...he didn’t want to…

“Hey, it’s ok, Stiles, sweetheart.” Peter let him shift off the lap and move over. Stiles tried to look away but the concern in Peter’s eyes made him break. He’d wanted to tell someone this before but no one had been there and it was just building like pressure in his chest so he blurted it out before he could stop himself. 

“It was Derek, ok, it was Derek...I’m sorry, augh…” He buried his face in his hands and tried to control his breathing as he hunched in on himself slightly. Peter wouldn’t want him now, he just knew it. 

Gentle hands pulled at his and slowly he was pulled back into Peter’s embrace. “Shhh...it’s ok, it’s ok...you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” 

“No, I do...I just...shit, it was so fucked up, I thought it meant something, but then he said it was just him needing a release and it should have never happened, especially with me…” 

“When did he say this?” Peter’s arms were clenching tighter around him now. 

“When I went back to the loft after he kicked me out and said I wasn’t in his pack. But the rest...the first time was right after the confrontation with Gerard. He came by the next day to check on me and it felt so good to have someone care, Scott never even noticed the bruises, but Derek came and then he started kissing me and...then I don’t know, it’s a little bit of a blur, he was holding head and shoving his cock into my mouth...he came then jacked me off and left. It happened a few more times, but he wasn’t, you know, nice about it. I mean, I think I like rough which is why at first it felt good and I just loved that he wanted me. I’m just such an idiot, I thought it was more.” He stopped, feeling miserable now and tried to pull away from Peter again. But the wolf’s arms held him in. 

“Stiles, Derek is an emotionally constipated idiot and a complete asshole. The nerve…” Peter growled something Stiles didn’t understand before he continued, “...I said it this morning and I’ll say it again, I want you, I’m not good at this either. I’m still so fucked up from the pack bonds breaking and my family dying, I wasn’t sane when I was the alpha. My control is much better now but I still struggle at times, I didn’t go about getting you here well. I’m just grateful you don’t hate me for it. But even just this day of being here with you, I can already feel myself start to settle more.” 

Stiles pushed back enough so he could look Peter in the eyes. “I don’t know what this is between us Peter. I can’t promise you anything because I’m all sorts of fucked up too right now. I just lost my whole support structure as well, I know it’s not the same and I’m not a wolf and I can’t understand what it’s like for you but I’m glad you brought me here -- even if your method did suck and if you ever do that again to me I will learn how to make electricity with my hands and shoot it at you like Storm from xmen.” 

Peter threw back his head and laughed before leaning back in to kiss Stiles breathless. “All right, pet, you have a deal. Now, I think we’ve been in here long enough, don’t you?” Grumbling Stiles let Peter guide him out and into the bathroom to shower off the chlorine before getting into bed. He didn’t even argue when the wolf pulled him into a cuddle and shoved his face in Stiles’ neck. 

The next morning started the brutal routine that was to become his summer. Peter dragged him out of bed just as the sun was rising. Ignoring all of Stiles’ complaints the wolf bullied him into clothes and pulled him outside to start physically working out. That first morning Peter just made him run and do some push ups then walked him through some fighting stances. Then it was breakfast and studying the books. Peter had decided the first language he should learn was latin, which after the Argent bestiary incident, Stiles was totally down for. After lunch and a brief break, Peter pulled him outside again to run him through some combat magic. 

The next few weeks quickly settled into a similar routine. They got up and went running before eating breakfast, then Peter took Stiles outside and worked him hard physically. He made Stiles run, climb trees, lift logs and boulders, and also started to teach him how to fight a werewolf. He had two rubber knives with him and promised to get Stiles real ones when he trusted the boy not to stab himself with them. Though he wanted to argue, he also knew that was a fair point and gave in. 

After that, they showered, ate lunch and worked on magic. At first it was mostly memorizing various runes and symbols but soon he was working on combining them to make barriers or wards. After the second week, Peter had him start combining magic with the fighting. Particularly using mountain ash in his fights but also working on manipulating the plants and air around himself to his advantage. Language learned was an ongoing thing. By the second week the only language Peter would speak to him in the morning was latin. 

It was all exhausting work and by most nights he fell into bed and was asleep instantly. Peter had him take mornings or afternoons off though, seemingly on a whim but Stiles was pretty sure the wolf adjusted it to when he thought Stiles was at a breaking point. They would go on a more leisurely walk, watch a movie, talk for hours about random things, or have sex. They didn’t end up having as much sex as Stiles inititally thought they would, Peter seemed to want to take things slow which even though it chaffed a bit, Stiles knew it was a good idea. 

Over a month into them being there and Peter still hadn’t fucked him, even though Peter could get three or four fingers into Stiles fairly quickly by now. He wasn’t sure what the wolf was waiting for and was starting to really wish he’d just do it already. What he did really enjoy though was how he never saw the sex coming, he’d be in the middle of one thing and then Peter would just pounce, sometimes out of no where and take him right there. Stiles loved this, the flare of fear then arousal he would get from it was intoxicating. 

It was more than just sex though, it was all the pet names and teasing. It was Peter calling him beautiful and praising his work often. It was the casual touches and quick kisses. Stiles knew he was falling in love and just didn’t have it in himself to care. He knew it sounded crazy but it just also felt so right. The more in tune with his magic he got, the more he felt it connect with Peter. Their pack bond was strong now and he could always find the wolf through it. They also talked a lot, Peter shared about growing up with a pack and sometimes more painful things like the fire and how it felt to be abandoned by his alpha. Stiles told him about his mom dying and his dad’s grief and how alone he had felt through it all. 

It was just over six weeks since they had arrived and they were having one of their slower days. Peter was working on some special dinner in the kitchen and Stiles was reading one of the journals from a spark as he lay sprawled out on the couch. He wasn’t paying super close attention to his reading, mostly just letting his mind drift through it when his attention got caught on an entry. He unsprawled and re-read the passage, and again and again. What the ever loving fuck. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at Peter who was humming while moving around the kitchen. He read the passage again and groaned, flinging himself back into the couch. That secretive and manipulative bastard. 

He finally closed the journal and shoved it haphazardly back into the pile. He needed to process this and think about it before he did anything. The thing was, he really didn’t think any of this had been fake, at all. Not even the threats at the beginning, this was all just part of who Peter was and fuck, Stiles had gone and fallen in love with the man. That also didn’t change that this whole time Peter had been working towards him and Stiles bonding, him claiming Stiles. The journal had talked about an alpha doing it but Stiles already knew Peter was capable of more than a typical beta so he was sure that wouldn’t be a problem. 

Stiles wandered over to the counter and sat on one of the bar stools and just watched Peter cook for a while. When it looked like the wolf was at a good pausing point he casually said, “I want you to fuck me.” 

Peter stopped and stared at him. “Not that I don’t want to, pet, but I’m kind of in the middle of something here.” 

“Uh huh, like that excuse has ever stopped you from messing with me. But no, I don’t mean right now.” He waited for Peter to relax somewhat before he added, “I mean tonight, in the woods, while I’m running and you’re chasing me.” 

Peter dropped the bowl he was holding and it landed on the floor. The batter that was in it went everywhere along with crockery pieces from the bowl. Stiles grinned, wow, he could not have planned that reaction better himself. Peter stared at the mess on the floor then back up at Stiles. His eyes narrowed. 

“Sweetheart, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“Why not?” Stiles just widened his eyes. “I mean, it sounds super exhilarating, doesn’t it? You can’t tell me you don’t want to, let all those werewolf instincts lose and chase down your prey then fuck it into the ground. I’ll even stretch myself first so you can just go in right away.” 

Peter’s pupils darkened and he gripped the counter top tight. “Stiles.” He gritted out. “If you are messing with me right now, I am begging you to stop.” 

Stiles simply held up his wrist so Peter could see it and gave his best shit eating grin. “And during, or after you are fucking me into the ground, I thought you could bite me. Right here. On my wrist.” 

Peter came over the countertop and barely had the control necessary to cushion Stiles’ fall. His eyes were bright blue as he leaned over Stiles’ prone form. “You. Are the most. Terrible. Human.” Peter growled out as he punctuated every word with a kiss or nip on Stiles’s throat. Stiles just moaned underneath him, hands clutching Peter’s shirt. 

“I’m terrible?” He finally got out. “You’re the one who had a secret plan to woo me into letting you claim me with a spark mating bond.” He cried out as Peter’s hand undid his jeans and gripped his cock tight. 

Peter’s eyes were full of lust and want and he claimed Stiles lips in a bruising kiss while he roughly jerked him off. Stiles came with a sharp cry and just lay there panting as Peter pulled out his own cock and tugged until he came all over Stiles stomach and shirt with a moan. 

Rolling off him, Peter claimed one more kiss before tucking himself away and standing up. “I am going to completely ruin you tonight, darling, You won’t be able to walk or sit straight for days once I’m through with you.” 

“Promises, promises.” Stiles teased as he pulled himself up and grinned at his soon to be mate. Peter growled then turned him around and swatted him on the ass. 

“Go upstairs, don’t change your clothes. But stretch yourself, there’s a plug on my side of the bed. Put it in and leave it there until I take it out later.” 

“The whole time through dinner? Peter…” 

“Go put it in now Stiles or I’ll take you later with no prep. Your choice. But now, I have to clean up the floor and finish dinner.” 

Stiles let himself smirk at the wolf before going upstairs to do as he had been ordered. While the thought of being fucked with no prep had a certain amount of thrill attached to it, the rational side of his brain said that was a very bad idea, especially for his first time. So with one last sigh he found the plug and went to work on preparing himself. 

When he came back down for dinner, he stopped and blinked. Peter had pulled out all the stops, he’d lowered the lights and there were candles on the table. As he walked up to the table Peter came around the counter with a soft look on his face. Stiles reached over and pulled him in for a heated kiss. It was still softer though then before somehow, they took their time in exploring each others mouths. By the time Peter pulled back, Stiles felt tingles all over. 

When they had sat down and had started to eat, Peter almost hesitantly started talking. “Stiles, I’m assuming you found the journal that I was sure I had hidden away so you wouldn’t read it until I gave it to you?” 

Stiles gave him a sheepish grin, “Uh, yup, I found it in the car a couple of days ago when I was snooping.” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “I would ask why you were snooping in the car after being here for over six weeks but I suppose that’s really not important. What is though, is that if you are sure about this. Because, Stiles, I need you to be completely sure. This isn’t something you can ever back out of and...well, we should have a conversation about my intentions afterwards.” 

Stiles raised an eyebrow feeling amused. “Yes, Mr. Darcy, what are your ‘intentions’ towards me after you fuck me naked in the middle of a forest while you are in beta form.” 

“Brat.” Peter flicked a pea at him which Stiles dodged, still grinning. “I mean about when we go back to Beacon Hills.” 

“Right. Look, zombiewolf, I think I’ve gotten to know you pretty well over the past month and a half so I’m going to tell you what I think your intentions are and you can tell me what I’ve gotten wrong, ok?” 

Looking both amused and worried, Peter nodded. 

“Good, cool. Well, this is going to give you a power boost if I read that right, I know it’s supposed to be for an alpha and a spark but I’m guessing you have a way around that. So, we’ll train here for a while after you claim me and we bond, so we can figure out how to work together. Plus, I still have a lot to learn before I feel ready to go back and face a freaking pack of alphas. When we’re ready, we’ll go back and we lure one of the alpha’s away from the others. I’d say let’s just go for Deucalion but we probably shouldn’t risk it since he’s the most powerful. Anyways, we lure an alpha, you kill the alpha, you become the alpha and then we go fuck on the Nemeton and claim the land as ours. Assuming that works, then we definitely kill Deucalion and kill or drive off the others. Did I miss anything?” 

Peter was looking at him hungrily. “Oh sweetheart,” he purred, “you are just perfect.” Peter’s eyes started burning preternatural blue again and his fangs peaked out. Stiles felt a flare of arousal and he clenched around the plug and moaned as it bumped his prostate. “You should definitely start running now, pet, run fast and use everything you’ve learned against me. Make me earn this, my cunning mate.” 

Gulping, Stiles set down his utensils and slowly got up and started backing towards the door. When he reached it, he reached behind him and turned the knob. Peter low rumble picked up and his blue eyes were like lasers in the darkened room. Quickly, he spun around and took off into the forest. Behind him he heard the howl of a wolf on the hunt.


	5. In Which Peter Claims His Mate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little nervous to post this. I hope it lives up to expectations...
> 
> Updates won't be quite as frequent after this one. I have ended up re-working a lot of what I had down when they get back to Beacon Hills and adding a bunch chapters. I still have a lot written, just trying to get the events place in the right order and figure out if anything else needs to change.

Peter roared as he dodged a flying tree branch. Stiles scrambled to duck behind a tree, sending a shower of dirt up into Peter’s face as he went to lunge after the boy. Thrilled at the challenge his intended mate was giving him, he changed direction, taking off and letting the darkness mask his presence. Steadying his breathing, he slowed to a trot and listened intently to the sounds of the forest around him. He could hear Stiles panting heavily off to his left and a little behind him now. He’d been on the hunt almost a half hour now. Stiles was proving to be extremely clever and had used every trick up his sleeve from the last several weeks of training. 

He was starting to get impatient now. His cock was throbbing with want and desire. The challenge of the hunt only made him more eager to claim his mate. It was time to end this. Slipping quietly through the trees he broke back into a lope so he could get directly in front of the boy’s path. It still wasn’t easy, Stiles had broken back into a trot and was keeping the breezes moving in various directions around him which made his scent confusing to follow. If Peter had not had his mate’s heartbeat memorized since that night at the high school, he might have actually lost the boy. 

He quickly got ahead of the boy and readied himself to run as he let out a howl. He heard the boy’s heartbeat increase and the crash of the underbrush as Stiles’ veered sideways off his intended path and right where Peter wanted him to go. Perfect. With a burst of speed he tore through the forest relishing in the chase. His timing couldn’t have been better, just as Stiles stumbled into a clearing he reached the opposite edge. He fell flat against the ground, letting his nose rest between his paws. 

Peter waited, watching as the boy paused to take deep breaths. Letting out a low growl he stalked forward. Stiles stumbled backwards but before the boy could do anything Peter pounced, shifting back into human form as he did so. They fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and the mix of adrenaline and arousal that was pouring off the boy made him almost wild with want. 

The boy had landed with a yelp and now tried to scramble away, kicking back at Peter. He easily avoided the kicking and grabbed Stiles’ ankles and pulled the boy closer as he settled himself over the legs. Stiles was now frozen underneath him, panting harshly. He ran a clawed hand over the delicious ass in front of him while the other circled around and began to unbuckle the belt. This brought a renewed struggle but it was easily ignored as he got the pants undone and then slowly dragged them off. Dragging out the plug slowly, Stiles let out a whimper as Peter made sure to rub it against the boy’s prostrate on its way out. 

The last of his restraint left him at the sight of the open hole. Quickly dragging Stiles up on the knees he shoved his cock inside all the way with one quick thrust. His mate made a strangled cry and arched up and back into the thrust. Peter roared at the feel of his mate’s hole squeezing his cock. Pulling almost all the way out he slammed back in pulling out another scream of pain and pleasure from his boy. Again and again he pounded in as Stiles writhed under him, able to do nothing but take what Peter gave him. 

Feeling the pressure build up and wanting to see his mate’s face as he came. He pulled out and roughly flipped Stiles over. Dragging Stiles’ legs around his hips he slammed back into the boy. His mate’s head was thrown back, revealing the pale stretch of skin. Alternating with growling and howls, he set a brutal pace as he caught up the right wrist chasing after his climax. 

His mate’s dick was hard and leaking as well and the sight of it sent a flare of possessive pleasure through him. Bringing the wrist to his mouth he licked the spot where his bite was going to go. Stiles moaned and arched up again. Letting go of his boy’s hip Peter wrapped his other hand around the leaking erection in front of him and roughly pulled at it. It was only a matter of moments before the boy was coming and clenching tight on Peter’s cock. With one last howl and thrust Peter clamped his teeth down on the pale wrist and shot his release into his mate’s body. 

When he came back to himself, he was on top of Stiles with his face in the boy’s neck. Slowly he brought a hand up and ran it down Stiles’ body. With a shudder, Stiles woke up as well. Peter heard a whimper and hiss of pain as Stiles tried to wriggle out from under him. Letting out a low growl, Peter began to draw some of his mate’s pain. When the boy was still again beneath him, he pulled off and took in the sight of his mate’s body. Bruises and scratches littered the torso and he let out a low whine when he saw the claw scratches on one hip. 

A hand patted one of his thighs. “It’s ok...I’m ok...oh fuck though, I don’t think I can move. You better be ready to carry me, my mate, because these legs aren’t carrying me anywhere for at least 24 hours.” 

Leaning back down to press a few kisses and licks to his mate’s face, he curled his arms under Stiles’ body and stood up with him in his arms. He felt incredibly smug when Stiles immediately curled up against him and wrapped one arm around his shoulders. When they got back to the cabin, he gently set his mate down in the bathtub, nestling a towel under his head. He quickly went through a shower himself to get the worst of the dirt of blood off before going back to Stiles who was dozing lightly in the tub. 

Gently he started to clean Stiles off. He paid particular attention to the healing bite mark on the right wrist. After cleaning it off, he licked it gently for several seconds before carefully wrapping it in a white cloth. It would heal and scar much faster than normal wounds due to the nature of Stiles’ magic and the new bond with a werewolf. 

Stiles drifted in and out for the cleaning, every time he was awake he’d grin at Peter and try to pull the wolf over to give him a kiss. Once he got Stiles into the bed, he gently rolled him over and pulled out a healing salve Stiles had made a week ago. He rubbed it over the boy’s ass and pressed a small amount inside to hopefully soothe some of the burn. Once he had finished he went back into the bathroom and took a more thorough shower. 

Finally, he was able to crawl into bed and collapsed next to his mate. He carded a hand through the brown hair and smiled as Stiles nuzzled into him. This wonderful, smart, brave and cunning boy constantly surprised him at every turn. He’d had a whole plan worked out of how and when he would get Stiles to accept that they were mates and let Peter claim him but Stiles once again, smashed those plans to pieces. Stiles was his now, freely and by choice. Peter let his eyes close and he smiled again in triumph. 

He was woken up to a sharp pain flare from his arm. Eyes flying open he let out a startled half laugh as he saw Stiles cheekily biting his wrist. Seeing that Peter was awake, Stiles stopped and crawled up to him to claim a kiss. 

“Good morning, crazywolf, I thought I’d let you see what it felt like to have your wrist almost bitten clean off.” 

Chuckling he rolled them over and put Stiles beneath him. “Almost clean off? I think you might have been a bit more addled than I thought from the chase last night.” Stiles reached up and tugged on his head to bring him down closer. He obliged easily and smirked when he felt the boy’s hard length against his thigh. He reached down a hand and gently ran a finger down the length of the boy’s cock. Stiles shuddered against him and moaned softly. 

“Come on Peter, I don’t think I smell enough like you at the moment. Fill me up and mark me.” 

Peter groaned and rolled back over and pulled Stiles on top of him. “Only if you set the pace this morning, Pretty Boy, I don’t trust myself not to slam into you again.” Seeing Stiles’ pout he added, “I plan on doing that again with you, sweetheart, but not today, you’re healing.” 

Stiles shifted then winced. “Ok, yeah, fair enough. I’ll need you to help me though.” 

Peter grinned and pulled out the lube. Stiles was still pretty stretched out from the night before but Peter took his time, slowly easing in one finger after another, enjoying all the breathy sounds Stiles was making. He couldn’t help his own punched out sound though when Stiles slid down on his cock and sat there, breathless and giving Peter a wicked grin. Slowly Stiles started moving up and down and it was amazing to fully see his mate on top of him like this. Stiles reached down and pulled up his wrist again and gave it several kisses and went a little faster. 

Just as Peter was getting close, he felt a tingle around his wrist and looked up to see Stiles’ eyes blaze deep gold. A startled noise came out but pleasure soon overwhelmed any questions he might have and he came hard and fast. His body shuddering through the aftershocks he gasped as bright pain and pleasure burst from the place Stiles’ was holding his wrist and the boy came as well, in hot spurts over Peter’s stomach. 

As Stiles collapsed next to him, Peter brought up his wrist to examine it and stared. There was a perfect bite mark that glowed a faint silver as he turned his wrist to get a better look. He dropped it to stare at the boy next to him. Stiles was grinning in what seemed to triumph as he pulled off the cloth that covered his wrist and held it up to compare to Peter’s. 

“Ha! It worked, yes!” 

Reaching over, he interrupted his mate’s crows of triumph and a pointed look. “Stiles. Care to share with the class why you just put a permanent mark on me without asking first.” 

Sitting up, Stiles scrunched his face up in confusion. “Uh, well, for one I didn’t know if it would work, it was just a random idea that popped into my head when I woke up this morning and two, I didn’t really mean to? I mean, I was just holding your wrist and wished you had something to mark you as mine and then I felt my magic react and wham. But um...I’m sorry?” 

Peter ran a hand over his face and sighed before laughing slightly. “Oh, you clever boy, I really need to stop underestimating you. I don’t mind, sweetheart, I was just startled. I’m actually thrilled you want to claim me as I’ve claimed you.” 

Stiles’s face lit up again and he was off to the shower, rambling the whole time about what he was going to research about mates and bonds. By the time he had come out he was onto what he thought they should focus on next for training. 

“ -- we should also talk through the chase last night and what I need to improve. Just in case I ever have to run away from a wolf that isn’t you. I think I did pretty good there until the end and that last howl threw me off and I panicked a bit --” 

Peter let the voice wash over him as he went through his own shower and then downstairs just in time to stop Stiles from setting a pan on fire. He quickly vanished Stiles from the kitchen and let the boy continue talking as he started enthusiastically making notes and writing down training plans. 

The rest of the day passed in a similar way. They both just rested in their new bond and worked on exploring it more fully. Stiles in particular was struggling to not be constantly distracting by seeking out Peter’s emotional state. They had just finished another round of sex and were lying on a pile of blankets and pillows on the main floor when Stiles almost idly asked a question. 

“The journal said alpha’s would be drawn to unclaimed sparks as part of a natural instinct to strengthen their pack.” 

Peter hummed in response as he hadn’t heard an actual question in there. Stiles of course just kept going. 

“Would just the bite have worked in the parking garage that night? Or did crazy wolfman you intend on raping me after?” 

Peter stiffened and shifted slightly to look at his mate. Stiles’ face didn’t show any obvious signs of distress and the bond was still humming with contedness. He still decided to be cautious in his answer. Though he knew Stiles would only accept absolute honesty. 

“I don’t believe I was truly thinking that far ahead by then. The primary urge in me was to find Derek and kill Kate. I had been planning on convincing you to join me from when I smelled you that night in the woods when I bit Scott and --” 

“Woah, wait? Really?” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “Yes, Stiles, really. It was your scent I followed that night and it led me to Scott. I barely had enough control to stop myself from just attacking the police for daring to separate me from the scent I wanted.” Stiles eyes were wide now but his heartbeat remained stable so Peter relaxed slightly. “It was the night in the school that made me want you for more than just your spark. Your loyalty to Scott astounded me, you even tried to speak up for Derek when Scott went to blame him.” He trailed off, remembering that night and the days that followed. The agony of still healing and phantom pack bonds that he could never fully grasp. 

“And the garage? Why did you listen when I said no?” Stiles reached out and gently ran a hand down his face. Nuzzling into the palm, Peter allowed the nearness of his mate to bring him back to the present. 

“By then I had managed to regain more of my rational thought even though I was still holding on by the edges of my claws. Derek’s reluctant agreement to help me was enough of an anchor that I was able to resist the urge to just go take and claim.” He paused, struggling slightly but the look of acceptance in Stiles’ eyes made him go on. “I’m lucky Derek was with you at the hospital. I was still so...aching for my pack and family that I did come very close to just forcing it with you right there.” 

Just thinking of it made him restless. That he had almost done such a thing was abhorrent. A mate claim, especially to a spark, should never be forced. It would start them off as unequals and the alpha would have all the power. Stiles pulled him up and just held him for a while. He finally relaxed into the hold and breathed in Stiles and all that came with him. He was so pleased that this had worked even better than he had hoped. 

“We don’t have to talk about it anymore. I trust you, Peter. I know that time was horrific for you and you were in so much pain. The main thing is that you didn’t do those things and when you did ask and I said no, you respected it.” 

He moved them so he could sit up against the pillows and cuddle the boy in his lap. Letting out a pleased rumble he nuzzled at Stiles’ neck. Enjoying the feeling of Stiles going limp and pliant at his touch. Finally, he pulled back and sighed. There was still one more thing he needed to say. 

“Derek could tell I wanted you. He was worried and wouldn’t talk about you to me. I never told him why I was interested but didn’t like it even then. I wonder if that is part of what influenced him after my resurrection. You said the first time was soon after the warehouse and Gerard hurting you. That was also right after I came back. Derek had forbidden me from seeking out any of the pack, including you.” 

Stiles moved out of his lap to look him in the face. “Why would that translate into starting a sexual relationship? I mean I know Derek struggles with words but that seems a bit extreme even for him.” 

Peter grimaced. “Derek always struggled with fully accepting his whole self that is both wolf and human. It’s not about separate instincts that you have to merge, it's about accepting that you are both completely. One can’t win out over the other or you will lose control. But Derek mistrusts his instincts. When he became alpha and with his pack and territory so unstable he would have been drawn to you, as a spark, instinctually. My return and his knowledge of my desire for you, would have brought out stronger instincts. He was attracted to you, I could tell this even when he was a beta, but he had so thoroughly repressed that side of himself that I would guess he didn’t understand where the instincts were coming from. He set out to claim you first but because he’s Derek he didn’t go about it well and he fought it the whole time.” 

Stiles leaned back into his arms. His scent betrayed a bit of anxiety over this direction of the conversation so Peter wasn’t surprised when the boy moved to a different one. 

“You were worried that Deucalion would force me.” Peter stiffened and cursed himself. He had to remember how quick Stiles was at putting pieces together. 

“Only if he discovered what you were which is why I was so quick to pull you out of there. Even though Derek had given the command to leave you alone he didn’t account for how strong the beta’s bonds were to you. They were coming by your house to check on you often which made one of the alphas, Ennis, to make a joke about the pack human whore to Derek...who unfortunately reacted in such a way to make Deuc curious enough to check on you himself.” 

His arms tightened around his mate. Stiles helpfully tried to burrow his face into Peter’s neck which helped calm his instincts. His mate was safe now, and no one could claim Stiles away from him. Not even in his death would another alpha or beta be able to form this same bond. 

“I’m glad you got there first.” 

“Of course, sweetheart.” 

The next several days after mating were both exhilarating and frustrating by turns. It was wonderful to feel as strong as he’d been before the fire again. The stronger bond between him and Stiles also gave him back the emotional and physical connection he needed to fully ground his instincts and be content in himself. The frustration came as he and Stiles struggled to figure out the new dynamic between them. This was probably further heightened in that they had been living long enough together now for the minor things to become irritating. Their main conflict though came from his struggle to treat Stiles as a full equal in his planning and researching. Even before the fire he had gotten used to being the only one who was either capable or wanted to make the plans of defense or offense. Stiles, however, now demanded to let in on everything. 

This ended up coming to a head about a week after they bonded. Peter had been trying, he had been truly, but his instinctive urge to hide his full plans was just too strong. Too many times in his life he had shared the whole plan only to be betrayed or ignored. Even knowing Stiles was now fully and completely bonded to him and would never betray him couldn’t override what the years had pounded into him as his default behavior. 

The fight started because Peter had let slip that he’d told Derek to go after to claim Stiles. He hadn’t understood why that made Stiles freeze up and ask angrily what other secrets he was hiding. He’d snapped back that his secrets were his business alone; there was no reason for Stiles to know something until it was necessary to the plan. 

“So what am I to you then? Just a piece on your chessboard to be moved at your leisure?” Stiles was almost spitting with rage at this point and it made Peter flare up in defensive anger. 

“You know that’s not what this is, but I am the alpha here and you --” 

“You aren’t an alpha right now! And fuck, maybe I don’t want to help you become one if all you’re going to do is shout orders at me like I’m a fucking beta.” 

Peter snarled and moved across the room to grab Stiles and shove him into the wall. “You don’t have a choice in that anymore, boy, I’ve claimed you now.” 

“Fuck you, asshole.” Stiles slammed a hand into Peter’s chest and his vision went white with the pain that exploded in him. When he came back to himself, Stiles had run out of the cabin and headed into the forest. Furious, Peter slipped into wolf form and took off after the boy. Rage though, made him sloppy and Stiles was good enough now that Peter couldn’t catch his scent at all. When he had been running long enough that his energy was flagging his rage had left him and now he was only filled with regret and anxiety. 

He kept playing the argument over in his head and shame filled him. He’d reacted too quickly and hadn’t paid attention to his mate’s scent. Stiles hadn’t truly been angry when the Derek thing had slipped out, he’d been hurt. Cursing himself, Peter turned back to the cabin. He knew Stiles had insecurity so deeply woven through him that of course he’d be hurt at the possibility that Peter would have told someone else to claim him. He’d also broken his promise to the boy to view him as an equal and not as a thing to be won. 

It was a fully dejected version of himself that came back into the cabin. He was fully expecting to find the car gone and that Stiles had left him. The boy’s heartbeat coming into his awareness made him whine involuntarily. He slunk inside to see Stiles sitting on the couch, red eyed and miserable. 

“Peter! Oh gods, I’m so sorry.” Stiles had been moving as he was saying this and fell on his knees to wrap his arms around Peter and shove his face into the wolf’s fur. Peter whined and snuggled into his mate the best he could, licking at whatever skin he could get at. Stiles just kept muttering apologies which made Peter transform back into human so he could both hold his mate better and speak himself. 

“Stiles, I’m so sorry… I should never have said those things.” 

“Shouldn’t have said what I said either, I would never back out on you or leave you. Peter… I love you.” 

Peter felt himself start to tremble and he pulled up Stiles so he could kiss him thoroughly. When they needed to breathe, he pulled back. He could feel tears threatening to start. “I love you too. Sweetheart, Stiles, I love you.” 

The kisses soon turned heated and later when they naked and sated lying tangled up on the floor together, Stiles spoke up again. “We do still need to talk about it though.” 

Peter groaned and hid his face in Stiles’ stomach. “I know pet, I know.” 

They did talk about it and though they both knew it didn’t fix everything they still found their way to more solid ground. They also talked through the entire rocky start with Peter’s plans and why he’d tried to get Derek to go after Stiles to begin with. Peter tried to include Stiles in more of his planning times and together they worked out a plan of attack once they returned to Beacon Hills. 

It was the middle of August when they started to head back home. The drive back was a leisurely one. Peter took them up to Portland first to gather supplies for Stiles and some rare books for himself. Stiles also got several magical tattoos as well as a simple triskele over his heart. They spent almost a week traveling back down the coast. It would have been only four days but Stiles got distracted searching for selkies and to his absolute shock, they found a colony. He was pretty sure Stiles would be holding that over his head for the rest of their lives. 

Peter had already purchased and contracted out the setup of a house that bordered the old Hale lands. It had a tall fence around about three acres of land. He’d had some of the best security currently available installed in and around the house. The first thing the two of them did when they arrived was to walk the perimeter to set up a runic ward that was tied to them. 

They laid low for the next two weeks. Stiles talked to all the people he knew in town that he trusted not to gossip to anyone that he and Peter were there. He also got them used to the idea of him and Peter together to hopefully try and minimize the town gossip explosion which would come when that news was made public. Peter spent most of the two weeks patrolling the forest in wolf form. He found little to no scent of Derek and his betas in the forest which made him concerned. Eventually he gave into the urge and went to the loft to check on his nephew. To his relief, their scents were fresh there. He’d begun to worry that Deucalion had gotten impatient and simply killed them all. 

He waited around until all the betas (except McCall) were there and had obviously started some sort of meeting before simply walking in. The surprise and slight fear at his presence was immensely satisfying. He just smirked and ambled over to where snacks and food were set out on a table. Ah...he had missed this. 

“What are you doing here?” Derek said, his voice flat and angry. 

Peter just smiled, leaning back against the table. “Why, nephew, I can’t come in and check up with my alpha? I mean, it’s been almost three months, I did expect a little more concern for my well being.” 

“I don’t care about your safety, Peter. Now, what do you want?” 

“There’s the loving and kind nephew I know so well and love. What do I want? I would have thought that would be obvious. I just want to bond with my alpha and pack.” 

One of the betas snorted and another coughed. Derek’s expression was veering into murderous. Peter just smirked. This was just too much fun. He couldn’t wait until he was an alpha as well, he was sure it would be even better then. Especially with Stiles there as well to play off of. His smile grew at the thought of Stiles and him tag teaming this together. 

As if reading his thoughts, the former lizard spoke up. “Hey, douchebag, what’d you do with Stiles?” 

Interesting, he hadn’t thought anyone would notice any connection between his disappearance and Stiles’. This lizard boy might have potential. He put on a look of mild confusion. 

“Stiles? Why? Did something happen to him?” 

“Cut the crap, uncle stinkface.” That was Erica, she was glaring at him. “We know your scent was all over his room and it stunk of his fear. What did you do with him?” 

Now, this was even more of a delight. Not only had some of the pack members noticed his boy was missing but they had been in his room soon enough after to pick out the scents. He frowned though, in concern now. 

“I was in Stiles’ room right before I left, but all we did was talk. Have you been looking for him? Or does the sheriff know anything?” 

Surprisingly, it was Boyd who spoke up then. “Sheriff Stilinski says that Stiles ran away. Yes, we’ve looked but weren’t able to find any trace of him in the area...we had to stop though…” Judging by the careful look the beta was now giving Derek, Peter could guess at why they had to stop. He turned to Derek then and raised another eyebrow. 

Derek just growled at his betas, they all winced and looked away. He sighed then and turned back to Peter. “Did you take Stiles?” 

Peter gazed at his nephew, contemplating his answer. Finally he stretched, ignoring the annoyed rumblings of the betas he smiled at Derek and answered. “Yes.” 

The loft went completely silent. Shock filtered it’s way through Derek’s face then confusion. Peter just gazed cooly at his nephew. He knew the alpha would get there eventually. Erica was the first to snarl and moved towards him, fangs dropped and claws extended. Boyd grabbed her before she could get close. Peter just ignored her and kept looking at Derek. Finally. He could see when the pieces fit into place. 

“But you aren’t an alpha.” Derek said, there was still confusion in his expression but there was something else there too. Peter couldn’t work out what it was yet. 

“Since when have I ever let something so trivial as a status like that stop be from taking what I want? I did tell you to claim him, it’s you who decided he wasn’t worth the effort. Though, I do hear you already had started the process… “ He tisked in disapproval before continuing. “I’m amazed that you were able to give him up so easily after getting a taste. But, I suppose I should thank you. Your rejection of him after the physicality of the...relations you had started with him truly hurt him. He was much easier to convince than I thought he would be.” 

“You sick bastard.” It was the lizard boy again. Peter rolled his eyes and turned his attention away from the now horrified looking alpha back to the betas. Peter rolled his eyes at them. 

“You are all so quick to jump to conclusions, never thinking of what your own actions have done. Everyone of you here rejected Stiles and broke any pack bonds that might have been forming with him. Even to a human a broken pack bond can hurt as a physical thing. I was simply there for him when he needed someone. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have grocery shopping to do.” 

He left the loft feeling incredibly smug. Even with the growls of the other betas in his ears he couldn’t help but feel that this was an important step forward in his and Stiles’ plans. They all knew now about Peter’s claim on his mate. They might not understand it yet but they knew. He smirked to himself. Well, Derek understood and judging by the look on Derek’s face, the alpha hadn’t been as opposed to mating with Stiles as he had pretended. It didn’t matter now. Peter had his mate and now all they had to do was wait. The opportunity would come and soon he would be an alpha.


	6. in Which Stiles Returns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter like five times and am still not super pleased with it but I think I was going to throw my laptop across the room if I had to read it again so here you go! It's not that I hate it, I just couldn't get it to flow as smoothly as I wanted it to. 
> 
> I do want to say thank you so much for all the kudos and reviews! You guys help make me write faster :D

His locker was slammed shut just missing his fingers by an inch. Yelping, Stiles flinched back only to be stopped from falling by a wall of solid muscle. He glared at the first offending party, Jackson, while poking his elbow back at the muscles. Neither werewolf so much as twitched. 

“What’s up Nagini?” He snarked at Jackson while now trying to slip sideways past Boyd. Erica appeared on his other side and he yelped again. “Oh my god, it’s like a werewolf jack in the box. Seriously, guys, first day of class, don’t want to be late…” 

Erica just shoved his back up against his locker. “You disappeared for three months. Three fucking months and then waltz back in here like nothing happened? What the fuck, Stiles. Uncle Creeptastic showed up a fucking week ago to fuck with Derek’s head and imply all sorts of creepy things about you and him and you were still no where to be found.” 

Stiles’ mouth thinned and he glared back at her. “You know how long it was after Derek kicked me out of the loft that afternoon and Peter showed up in my bedroom? Why don’t you add that to your month count Miss High and Mighty, oh, we’ll freaking block Stiles’ number on our phones and refuse to even look at him if we see him in a store but the second I leave you, you’re somehow allowed to be mad about it? You. All. Left. Me. Why would I even try to contact you after getting back here? Now, get out of my way. I have classes to get to.” 

Jackson looked down and away, “Stiinski, you know Der --” 

Stiles scoffed. “Since when have any of you just obeyed Derek completely? Yeah. No. If I had really been important, you would have found a way to do something. At least an apology or explanation but nothing.” 

Erica looked devastated but was slowly backing off. “You don’t understand, the alpha pack, they were watching all of us and you’re just a human, we couldn’t risk it. We were terrified when you went missing...and then Peter’s scent, Derek almost went crazy trying to find you, please, just come over to the loft after school. We can help you get away from Peter.” 

“Nope.” Stiles said, while finally getting past her and headed to his first class. 

“Stiles, please…” 

He just ignored her and kept walking. He did pull out his phone and sent Peter a quick update about the ambush. First period was English but the teacher wasn’t in yet so he could slump in the back row and ignore everyone’s existence for a bit longer. He was doodling a new idea for a rune array when he felt another presence standing over him. He was surprised to look up and see Lydia Martin standing there with a cool expression on her face. 

“Uh, hi?” 

“Stiles.” She said, and smiled at him while she primly slid into the seat directly in front of him. He just kept staring. Lydia never sat in the back of a classroom, ever. 

“Yes…?” 

“I saw your little, talk as it were, with the muscle, the blond and the jock.” 

He couldn’t help the smirk at her description of them. “I’m sure a lot of people saw that, they weren’t exactly subtle.” 

She rolled her eyes expressively. “They could definitely take some lessons in subtly from Peter...now, that man is a true master at saying something without saying anything at all.” 

“Something you want to ask me Lydia?” 

She sighed then glancing around, she lowered her voice. “Look, Jackson did not go about it the right way confronting you with tweedle dee and dum, but he was genuinely worried and came back devastated a week ago. You are right, none of us deserve it but he and I just want to know if you are ok.” 

He slumped, letting some of his defensiveness fall away. “Yeah, ok, that’s fair. I don’t know exactly what Peter said but I’m guessing he was way too into messing with Derek’s head to care about how he was coming across.” He let out another breath and gave her a grin. “I’m really ok, Lydia, I promise. Peter didn’t do anything to me that I didn’t really want him to do. Also, I think he actually saved me, dragging me away when he did. I wasn’t in a good place and neither was he. We are both still a little fucked up but we’re good.” 

She smiled at him, looking relieved. “Ok, thank you. I know I really haven’t been very nice to you and especially after you helped me --” 

He waved it away, “You never owed me anything. I was practically stalking you and that wasn’t ok. I saw you as an object and not a person, you were right to treat me like trash and I’m sorry for how I treated you.” 

“Thank you. I was just going to add that I’m here, if you ever want to talk about it.” 

“Sounds good, I will probably take you up on that and if Jackson does just want to talk with me, he can. I just won’t go anywhere near Derek.” 

“I’ll tell him.” 

While they had been talking the room had filled up with students. Scott was just coming in but didn’t even glance at Stiles, the other teen was obviously focused on looking for Allison. The girl in question was sitting in the middle of her row but on the opposite side from Stiles and Lydia. Stiles rolled his eyes at Scott’s single mindedness and grinned when he caught Lydia doing the same. He was about to ask her if she knew anything about what the Argent’s were currently doing when everyone’s phones dinged and the teacher walked in. 

As the lesson began, Stiles found himself unable to concentrate. There was something off about the new teacher and it was making his skin crawl. Wrong, wrong, wrong, _wrong_. His magic chanted at him. He was just about to ask to use the bathroom to get away and hopefully text or call Peter when the first bird hit the window. The wrong feeling intensified. Lydia screamed.The windows broke, and he didn’t know where to look or what to do. Everything in him felt overwhelmed and too sensitive. Gasping, he managed to spin around and grab Lydia out of her desk where she too had frozen. The two of them hit the floor as chaos whirled around them. 

When all the birds were either dead or managed to fly back out of the windows he stood up and half carried, half dragged Lydia out of the room. He managed to move quick enough to get ahead of the stampede. He was trying to pull out his phone while holding her up when Jackson appeared, face white. 

“What was that?” He hissed, while gently prying Lydia out of Stiles’ hold. 

“I don’t know, it wasn’t natural though, something was very wrong.” Stiles answered, trying to keep his voice low as he glanced around to see if any other werewolves were paying attention. 

“I heard her scream.” Jackson was also keeping his voice low. The jock was still half supporting Lydia but had also placed a hand on Stiles’ lower back as he directed them to the currently unused band room. As soon as the door closed behind them Stiles pulled out a sharpie from his back pocket and hurriedly scribbled several runes on the back of the door. 

At Jackson’s WTF face, he sighed and said, “It’ll block anyone from hearing our conversation, even werewolves.” 

“That’s handy.” Jackson said, looking reluctantly impressed. 

“What happened? Why are we here?” 

Both boys turned to look at Lydia. She was staring around the room in confusion. Stiles rubbed the back of his head while trading looks with Jackson. 

“Do you remember the bird hitting the window?” He said, looking over at her. She frowned and then nodded. 

“I do. I remember and I saw more coming and it was like all of them were screaming in my head and I just couldn’t take it anymore so I screamed. I don’t remember anything after that.” 

Stiles started pacing the room, trying to get all his thoughts in order and really wishing he’d thought to ask Peter what Lydia was earlier. Jackson was watching him with a sharp gaze while keeping a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. Hearing the voices scream. “Oh shit.” He said, and quickly pulled out his phone and scrolled through the pictures he’d taken of some of his notes. 

“Stilinski, are you going to tell us what is going on sometime today?” 

Stiles looked up and scowled at Jackson. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on or why. I do think I know why Lydia screamed though. It was all the death at once about to happen. Something drove those birds to die. I don’t know what but I’m sure whatever it is...well, isn’t good. But, Lydia, I think you might be a banshee. Which would make sense how Peter could have used you to bring him back from the dead.” 

“What is a banshee?” Lydia was pulling herself together quickly and her voice held nothing but steel as she stood back up. 

“Ok, so short version is someone who can sense slash predict death as it comes. Usually they scream when they feel it. I don’t remember much more. If you want, I can check with Peter and maybe you can come over to our place after school. He has a lot of books and resources there and we could look through to find more information for you. I figure Peter owes you at least that.” 

“Yes. Yes, he does.” Lydia leaned forward after saying this and buried her face in her hands. “There goes four months of counseling…” 

Jackson just continued to rub soothingly on her back, looking up to glare at Stiles. “I don’t like the idea of going to Peter.” The teen said, sounding irritated. 

Stiles winced. “I know. Look, I get it ok? But I wouldn’t suggest it if I thought it wouldn’t help or if I thought he’d hurt Lydia again. I’m not suddenly blind to his faults, we have had to talk through a lot and --” 

The door burst open as Scott came into the room. He gave them all a confused look. “Hey, everyone is looking for you three. I smelled you coming here but why didn’t I hear anything?” 

“Maybe you aren’t the super wolf you seem to think you are, McCall.” Jackson said, giving Scott a scornful look. 

Stiles jumped in before Scott could get out a reply. “Lets not fight right now...come on, we should go check in.” 

School ended up being cancelled for the rest of the day. Stiles however, was unable to get out of there for over two hours. First he had to wait to be ‘debriefed’ about the traumatic experience. He’d been going to skip it but then saw his dad walk in so he had hurriedly gone into the counseling office to wait for his turn. Thankfully, the sheriff didn’t stay long so he was in the clear when he got out. Then he got cornered by Lydia and Jackson again and had to put up with being interrogated about Peter for another half hour. He had been finally about to leave when Miss Blake stopped him. She looked a little better than earlier, but Stiles was still getting a really weird feeling off of her. He was able to get away with only talking to her for about ten minutes. She had been asking obnoxiously invasive questions about his home life that made him want to scream. 

The parking lot was mostly empty when he got out of the school. Lydia and Jackson said they would contact him later if they decided they wanted to meet with Peter. He opened the car door and was about to get in when he saw Erica approaching him again. She looked a lot less confident now and she made sure to telegraph her approach. He sighed and leaned against the car. 

“Stiles...look, I’m sorry about earlier. You’re right, that wasn’t fair of us to ambush you like that. I just saw you and freaked. Could you -- I mean, could we maybe talk? I promise to listen this time.” 

All his resolve melted in him at the vulnerable look on her face. He also really did want to know what had been going on with Derek and the alpha pack in his absence and Erica would be one of the best ones to ask. 

“Yeah, ok. Um, where do you want to go?” 

She gave him a relieved grin. “How about the coffee shop?” 

“Sure.” He paused then, remembering something, “Do you need a ride…?” 

She blushed, “Uh, yeah, though I can walk if you’d prefer.” 

He shook his head, “Nah, it’s fine.” 

Once they had their coffee and settled into their seats in the back of the coffee shop. Stiles waited for Erica to speak first while sipping at his drink and checking his phone. Peter had sent an affirmation of the change of plans for the day along with an admonishment to be careful and not to trust anyone. Rolling his eyes at the last part, he turned back to Erica and raised his eyebrows as he gave up waiting for her to speak. 

“Sooo...Catwoman, gonna speak sometime today?” 

She huffed and shifted nervously before finally speaking. “It was really hard on us when Derek kicked you out and said you weren't part of the pack but he told us it would be safer for you with the alpha pack around. He was worried about them going after you --” 

“And you all thought coming by the house constantly wouldn’t do that either?” 

Her mouth snapped shut and she flinched back. “I don’t think we thought about it...we just -- I don’t know how to explain it. It was like we needed to see you, to know you were ok. I’m really sorry we didn’t even try to talk to you. You were there for us after Gerard and helped us all feel like we were in this together after -- well, you know…” 

Stiles sighed and hunkered down in his seat as his mind was processing. The more he had read in the journals and from talking to Peter he was pretty sure that had been his innate spark at work. He wasn’t a normal human so when he had shown loyalty to the wolves they had automatically latched onto him as their pack. Since he had never actually submitted to Derek the bond wasn’t through the alpha so even when Derek kicked him out, the bonds wouldn’t have broken. However, the beta’s had a bond with Derek as their alpha. It would have been very confusing for them as new wolves to have the conflicting instincts. On one hand there would have been the imperative to obey their alpha and on the other, their bond to Stiles would have made them want to assure themselves that their pack member was safe. 

He didn’t know how to say any of this to Erica though without revealing secrets he wasn’t ready to have out there. Especially since he and Peter weren’t sure how much Deucalion had figured out about him. They didn’t want to risk the demon wolf finding out anything he told Erica or the other betas. He finally decided to start to try and repair the bond between them. Not only did he ache to repair it, he also knew that it would be helpful for their long term plans to have him get back into a main role in the wolve’s lives. 

“Thank you for explaining...I was just thinking through what you said and I -- no, sorry.” 

“What?” Erica asked, shifting forward a bit. 

“I shouldn’t say it, Derek’s still your alpha.” 

Erica sighed into her coffee and made a resigned face. “No, say it anyways.” 

“Ok, uh, well, I was just thinking that maybe there were like conflicting pack instincts? Since I was there with you and Boyd and we bonded but then Derek is your alpha, it was like your instincts were telling you two different things. Maybe? I don’t -- it’s just too bad Derek doesn’t share more about how all the pack bond stuff works.” 

She scowled and looked down. “He shares some things. He tries...look, he’s been doing a little better.” She paused and looked up at him, shifting nervously before speaking again. “Look, he’s been worried about you. He only had us stop looking because Deucalion was getting way too weird about it.” 

Stiles snorted, “A little better doesn’t mean he’s not still an asshole. But, did Derek say why Deucalion was interested?’ 

“It’s just another way for that asshole to fuck with Derek’s head. Like Peter taking you…Stiles...he explained to us some stuff about -- I mean -- shit.” 

Stiles frowned and looked at her. “Is this about what Peter said last week? Jackson gave me the overview and it sounds like Peter said some stuff that sounded worse than it was.” 

Erica’s jaw clenched. “No. Derek just told us more about Peter and what he’s done. About how he and Deucalion are the same in going after what they want.” 

“Hey, wait. Nope, not the same at all. If Peter was like Deucalion he would have killed Derek to become an alpha. He’s still just a beta by the way and I don’t know what Derek --” 

Erica broke in and blurted out in a rush, “He told us that you’re his mate and Peter knew that. He was devastated when he found out that Peter took you, he even followed your car scent to the woods...we all tried to track you and when we found -- Stiles…” 

Stiles' mind went blank for a moment as he realized what Erica was trying to say. Holy shit, Peter was never going to let him live down that the terrible paste had been needed. But also, what the hell. Derek thought he could claim what? Stiles felt irritation settle in him and his response came out a little stronger than he would have liked. 

“Ok, so I understand that without context why you might have thought something non consensual went down. It didn’t. Everything that has happened between Peter and I has been with my complete consent. Well, except the kidnapping thing, I tried to fight that. But we have talked and are ok now. I don’t know what the hell Derek is on about me being his mate but it doesn’t work like that, this isn’t twilight with some imprint, you are the only one for me bullshit.” 

Erica’s face turned red and she looked away, now blinking back tears. Now he felt like an ass. Groaning, he banged his head on the table. “I’m sorry...that came out...I don’t know how to convince you but Peter’s not the bad guy. Morally dubious, yes, but not the bad guy.” 

“Come talk to Derek.” 

His head shot back up and he stared at her incredulously. “Excuse me?” 

She jutted out her chin and glared at him mulishly. “Come, talk to Derek. The whole pack was supposed to meet after school to debrief about what the alpha’s did the first day but now we are meeting earlier. So, let’s go to the loft, together. Convince Derek and the pack.” 

“Woah, wait, alphas? At school?” 

“Come to the meeting if you want to find out about that.” 

Throwing his hands in the air he decided to give up. “Fine. You win. Let’s go.” 

As he climbed out of the jeep and looked up at the loft, he had a serious case of deja vu. He had to steel himself to keep going. While he and Peter had talked a lot about what happened with Derek and his pain there, it was different facing it like this. It helped that he had the steady bond with Peter and the assurance of his mate’s affection. It still wasn’t fun to remember the deep sting at Derek’s casual dismissal of him. 

Boyd and Isaac were already there when he walked in. Isaac gave him a dark look but Boyd just frowned before looking away. He rolled his eyes before seeking out Derek. The alpha was in the kitchen but slowly came into the big room as Erica noisily dropped her stuff on the big table. Steeling himself, he met Derek’s gaze. Derek was a wall of tension and all the betas were nervously eyeing him. 

“So...how’s life treating you?” Stiles winced slightly at the question. Not his best moment to be sure (not his worst either). Derek’s glowering gaze somehow got more intense. 

“...oook...well...this has been fun, Boyd, Isaac, Erica, nice to see you all again but I guess since nothing’s up here I’ll be headed out.” 

“Wait.” Derek’s clipped voice broke through the almost eerie silence. Turning back, Stiles threw his arms in the air and glared at the alpha. 

“Wait for what dude? You to glare and glower at me some more? For you to tell me how pathetic and useless I am? You want to throw me into some more walls or bang my head against my steering wheel? No? Nothing, yeah, that’s about on par for you. Good fucking grief, I can’t believe I ever actually thought we could be something more than this stupid antagonizing bullshit. Goodbye, Derek.” 

He turned to leave again but Derek suddenly was between him and the door. Holding out his hands in front of him. “Stiles, please, I’m sorry. Just...listen to me.” 

Stiles just kept glaring at the alpha. “Then say it.” 

“I know what Peter did and...I’m sorry. I didn’t think he would actually...shit, Stiles, I’m sorry.” 

“I’m confused here wolfman, what are you sorry about? Sorry that Peter and I mutually consented to fucking like bunnies or sorry that before that you would randomly show up at my house, have weird awkward sex with me but then refuse to speak about it and then without warning kick me out of your life?” 

Energy was spiking through him now. All his resentment and pent up anger for the pack and their treatment of him was coiling through him like raw electricity. Derek looked devastated and was struggling for words. He heard Erica make a startled noise and he resisted the urge to look at her. Just as Derek looked like he was about to say something there was a clang and the loft door was shoved open. 

Stiles spun around and groaned. Fuck. A tall woman with a blind man was in front. A hulking large dude was smirking behind them and flanking them were two teenagers. 

The blind man smiled as his eyes flashed red beneath the dark glasses he was wearing. “Well, I see we arrived right on time. You must be Stiles.”


	7. In Which Peter is Sneaky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible trigger warning: one character insinuates his plans to rape another. Later, it is brought up in conversation and talked about briefly. (there will not be any rape in this story).

Peter had been on edge ever since he had heard Lydia scream that morning. Upon receiving Stiles’ woefully inadequate text updates he had paced the property line in wolf form ten times before giving up and heading into town once he’d switched back to human form. Unfortunately, Beacon hills was a hard town to lie low in so he ended up staking out the small coffee shop only to have to vacate upon the next text he got from his mate. Feeling annoyed, he slunk over to the local diner to drink far inferior coffee and slowly worked his way through excellent pie. 

He was halfway through his second piece when he got the text that Stiles was headed to Derek’s loft with Erica. Quickly finishing up he paid and took another way to get to the loft. Masking his presence with one of Stiles’ new creations (a bracelet that hid all the sounds around you up to two feet out from your body), he settled in to listen to the conversation. When the alphas arrived he was ever so grateful for the bracelet and also cursing his idiot nephew for not living somewhere with better security. He hated feeling useless as there was nothing he could do to stop them from entering the loft. 

When Deucalion started speaking, he couldn’t help himself any longer and quickly moved up the stairs to slip in behind the alphas. He took off the bracelet on his way up. While part of him would enjoy the reaction of the suddenness of his appearance, he also doesn’t want to give away too much yet. 

“And you must be the duke we’ve all been expecting from England.” Stiles' sarcastic response couldn’t help but bring a smirk to his face as he leaned up against the open loft door. No one had seemingly noticed him yet but the thrum Stiles sent down their bond let him know that his mate was fully aware of his presence. 

“Clever, but that does seem to be one the things everyone agrees upon. Clever, sarcastic, never stops talking. Tell me, Stiles, did they get all those correct?” 

“Yeah no, your grace, not playing this game with you. You want something, say it, if you are just here to play games I’m sure you could convince Fred down at the local bar to play cricket on the TV for you if you snarl at him enough. Or maybe your twin goldendoodles could distract him long enough for the hulk here to change the channel himself.” 

Low growls echoed throughout the loft as the twins took a couple steps forward. Deucalion held up a hand to stop them. Stiles had shifted his stance into one Peter well knew. Braced slightly with one foot a little behind the other and hands loose and ready at his side. Cool amber eyes kept their gaze fixed on the blind alpha in front but Peter knew he was fully aware of exactly how far away the others were from him. 

Deucalion threw back his head and laughed before stepping forward to be only a few feet away from Stiles. “Stupid or brave, I haven’t decided yet. You know any one of my pack could easily rip you to shreds yet here you stand, facing us. You are a greater fool than I thought you were Derek.” Deucalion turned his head slightly towards the Hale alpha at the last part. “I would have laid claim to such a fiery spark immediately.” 

Quick as a snake the alpha’s hand grabbed Stiles’ wrist and pulled the boy towards him. Stiles cursed and stumbled at the tug. Peter clenched his jaw and forced himself not to react. Deucalion pulled up the wrist and smelled it, smirking as he did so. He let go just as suddenly and Stiles warily stepped back. 

“Yes, a fool, Derek, a fool. Your uncle, however, has never been one of those. Tell me, Stiles, how long did it take him to break you? How long until you were begging for his cock like a good pet?” Derek snarled, moving forward and pushing Stiles behind him as he did so. Deucalion just laughed at the wolf in front of him. “That angers you, doesn’t it Derek? Interesting, well, I have always tried to be a reasonable person. I’m going to give you a second chance here. Peter…” 

Pushing himself off the wall, Peter let himself lazily circle the rest of the alpha pack who all stared at him trying to hide their surprise. He grinned at them as he completed the circle to stand on Derek’s right side. “Yes, alpha Blackwood?” He murmured. 

“Ah, here is the proper respect. Your little puppies could take some lessons from the one Hale left alive to actually remember proper pack dynamics.” 

Derek growled again but Peter whipped out an arm to hold him, digging claws into his nephew’s flesh. How the hell had this idiot alpha pup survived the past three months if he let himself get this riled up by just a few words from Deucalion? 

Tilting his head in acknowledgement towards Peter, Deucalion’s grin widened. “I have been finding that after a while, small town life is becoming boring. To liven things up a bit, I propose a bit of a game or...challenge might be the better word. Derek, if you wish to remain on your family’s lands, kill your uncle and claim the spark as your mate by force. Peter, I should think your challenge is obvious.” 

Peter rocked back on his heels and hummed thoughtfully. “And if I win this game?” 

“I think being alive and an alpha is enough, don’t you? Oh and Derek, if you don’t play my game then...well, you will have become too boring for me. I’ll do what you won’t, except with the added bonus of killing all your betas first. Then you can watch while I claim the boy. Maybe I’ll keep you alive even, just so you can watch how a proper alpha should rule his territory.” 

Ignoring all the growls from Derek and the betas, Deucalion turned and began to walk out of the room only pausing at the door to turn back and say, “I’ll be seeing you soon, Stiles.” 

The silence stretched on in the loft as everyone strained to hear when the alphas had left. When he was sure they were gone, Peter stretched out his arms and rolled his shoulders. “Well, he certainly has become more dramatic in his old age. Would that fit in one of your evil overlord lists Stiles?” 

His words seemed to break some of the tension in the room and Stiles cackled. “Holy shit, no kidding. Wow, that guy is a proper maniac. I’m so sorry for ever thinking you were psychotically evil, Peter...this guy sure tops you in that regard.” 

Under the outward joking, Peter could tell that Stiles had been rattled by Deucalion. If he was being honest with himself, he had also been rattled. He knew they weren’t strong enough to face the blind alpha on their own and it terrified him that Deucalion still had a plan to try and take Stiles. Needing to be able to touch his mate, he started to move towards Stiles only to be blocked by Derek. Narrowing his eyes at his nephew, Peter breathed in and focused. He needed to know where Derek’s head was at right now. 

“Please tell me you aren’t seriously considering playing this little ‘game’ with Deucalion? You know his goal here is to not only keep us from coming together to fight him cohesively but also enjoy watching us fall apart.” Peter kept his tone board and body relaxed. 

“Submit then.” Derek’s voice was rough and there was a growl lurking behind every word. 

Peter raised his eyebrows and gave his nephew a confused look. “Excuse me?” 

Crowded forward Derek started to push Peter backwards. “You. Heard. Me. Submit.” 

His back hit one of the pillars which stopped their movement. Behind Derek Peter could hear Stiles’ furious heartbeat. He was getting annoyed now, his mate needed him and this moronic excuse for an alpha was in his way. Growling, he pushed back against Derek. 

“As what, Derek? Your beta? Or are you talking about something else? I already made it very clear to you that I would follow you as your beta after my resurrection. You were the one who refused to complete the pack bond with me then. I told you as soon as Deucalion appeared we needed to work together and trust each other as a pack to defeat them. That included Stiles. You threw him away and lost your chance to gain that power for yourself. So, what do you want me to submit to.” Derek’s eyes were bright red and he snarled and shoved a clawed hand into Peter’s shoulder. 

“Hey asshole, stop -- owe, let go -- Isaac.” Stiles' shout then cry of pain threw Peter into action. Derek might be the stronger of the two of them but Peter had years of experience and training on his nephew. He slammed forward clamping down on the edge of Derek’s throat with his teeth and then using the forward momentum to roll off his nephew and knock off the clawed hand. Derek tried to flip back around and claw at Peter’s side but he grabbed the arm and continued his falling motion and heard a satisfying crack as Derek’s arm snapped. 

Hearing their alpha’s howl of pain, Erica and Boyd charged him while Isaac was trying to keep a hold on Stiles. Peter barely bothered with the two betas. Simply grabbed Erica by the throat and slammed a shoulder into Boyd to send him flying to the ground. Dragging Erica along with him he let himself shift and roared at Isaac who dropped Stiles instantly and scuttled away towards Derek. Shoving the almost unconscious Erica at the oncoming Boyd, he swirled around and unsheathed his claws. Boyd caught Erica and pulled her away glaring daggers at Peter. 

Stiles fell into his back, wrapping shaking arms around his waist. “Hey, creeperwolf, it’s ok, I’m not hurt. They didn’t hurt me, ok? It’s ok.” Letting the shift fall away, he straightened his stance while glaring at the three betas and alpha. Derek was half standing as he tried to set his arm and the betas were fanned around their alpha. No one made any more moves towards him or Stiles and he let himself relax a tiny amount. 

Rolling his neck, Peter sighed. “Look, I have no desire to fight any of you. You are not my enemy and at one point I considered you all part of my pack. I understand this has all been an impossible time for you and has been the worst possible introduction of what it means to be a werewolf. That doesn’t change that this is what is happening right now. If you will let me, I can help teach you how to protect yourselves. If we work together and train with one another I do believe it is possible for us to defeat Deucalion.” 

Silence fell after his speech and he felt a headache brewing. Looking at Derek, he knew in that moment his nephew would never accept him as a pack member. Derek would always assume the worst of him. Familiar pain crept over him. Such was the life of the left hand of a pack. You were always needed but never wanted. It was only Stiles warm presence against him that kept more biting words from leaving his lips. 

“Stiles.” Derek wouldn’t even speak to him. “Stiles...you don’t have to stay with him. We can fix this. Please…” 

Coming around him, Stiles practically snarled at the alpha. “What a fucking load of bullshit. You are all morons. Peter isn’t the bad guy here. The bad guy is the one who just told Derek to commit murder then rape me. The bad guy is the one who basically just stated in front of all of you that he wants to murder everyone here then rape me. Why the fuck are we still fighting against each other?!” 

Stiles was shaking now and all Peter wanted to do was wrap himself around the boy and comfort him but knew he couldn’t do it yet. Erica at least was looking devastated now, even Boyd looked away in shame. Isaac wouldn’t meet anyone's eyes. Derek just kept glaring steadily at Peter. 

“And what do you call what Peter did to you, Stiles?” 

“How many times do I need to say that everything that happened between us was consensual? I just… Peter is my mate, Derek, and nothing you or Deucalion can do will ever change that. You could kill him and rape me and bite me but neither of you will ever have the bond that Peter and I have. Ever. So, if you aren’t going to let go of your pride and join us then move so we can leave.” Bowing his head, Derek shuffled over. Whining the betas did the same. 

As they got to Stiles’ jeep, Peter plucked the keys out of the boy’s hand and climbed into the driver’s seat. As a testament to how shaken he was, Stiles made no complaint and simply curled up on the other side of the car. Peter drove as fast as he dared and wasn’t sure had taken a single breath until they were safely behind the wall around their house. Putting the jeep in park, he leaned back and looked at Stiles. His mate was staring blankly out of the window. Getting out, Peter moved around to open the passenger side door. Brushing his fingers over Stiles’ cheek, he whispered, “Stiles...sweetheart, you’re ok.” 

Seemingly snapping out of whatever daze he had been in, the boy focused in on Peter’s face. “Peter? Oh gods…” He caught Stiles as he threw himself out of the car and into Peter’s arms. Clinging back tightly, he let the scents of mate and home soothe away his earlier terror. Pulling back slightly, Stiles looked at him intensely for a moment before smashing their lips together in a heated kiss. 

Eagerly kissing back, Peter went to work on devouring as much of Stiles as he could. His mate moaned into him, biting at his lips and his fingernails dug into the back of Peter’s neck. Arousal pooling low in his stomach, Peter grabbed the boy by the ass and lifted him up off the ground. Immediately cluing in, Stiles wrapped his legs around Peter’s hips and started grinding their clothes cocks together. Pulling back to breath, Peter took the opportunity to murmur a question to his lover. 

“What do you need, baby, tell me what you need?” 

“Remind me I’m yours, take me rough and hard and make me forget about anything else tonight...please, my mate, take me.” 

Growling now, Peter swung him around and started walking towards the door. After a minute of almost stumbling over rocks, he gave up and threw Stiles over his shoulder and charged inside. Foregoing the bed, Peter let Stiles drop on the couch while he unbuckled his pants to pull out his cock. Grabbing the boy by the hair he shoved him down to kneel and roughly shoved his cock into the open mouth. Stiles moaned around it and began to lick and suck while Peter just kept thrusting in and pulling on his hair. 

“That’s it baby, take my cock down, just stand there and take it. You’re all mine tonight, pretty boy, all mine.” 

He let his claws come out now and half shifted to drop fangs and his eyes glowed bright blue. Feeling the spike in arousal from Stiles he dug the claws slightly into the boy’s head and held it still and started thrusting in harder. Looking down he growled when he saw his mate’s slack face and his cock going in and out of those lips, it sent him over the edge and with a roar he pulled out and came in white spurts all over Stiles’ face and front. 

Not giving him any time to recover and already half hard again, Peter dragged him up by shirt and started hauling him towards the kitchen table. He shoved Stiles face down on the table rucking his shirt up and off as he did so. He growled, “Stay.” while continuing into the kitchen to grab coconut oil and the thin cotton towels. Coming back around dragged Stiles’ hands behind his back and tied them tightly with the towels. The boy’s groans and gasps were starting to drive him wild. 

He made quick work of the boy’s pants, just tearing through them to let them fall in pieces on the floor. Snarling again, he pulled out some of the oil and shoved two fingers in at once up the boy’s ass. Gasping, Stiles tried to pull away but Peter’s other hand pulled up on the bound hands and tugged. He kept up the brutal stretching, adding more coconut oil as needed until the boy’s hole was gaping and dripping. Stiles was a moaning, writhing mess by the time he shoved his fifth finger inside. 

“Peter, Peter, Peter….please...please, just fuck me...please Peter.” 

Peter yanked his hand out and blanketed the boy with his body. Growling into the boy’s ear he bit sharply down on an earlobe. “You get fucked when I say you get fucked, got that?” 

“Yes...Peter...please…” 

Roughly pushing him back against the table he continued his assault on the boy’s ass, pausing only to grip the boy’s cock at the base to stop an orgasm. He and Stiles had done this a few times before, enough to figure out what they liked and didn’t like. He knew in this mood Stiles wanted to be tortured before coming. Finally he pulled back, feeling wild and powerful as Stiles whined at the lack of fingers. Not bothering to finish undressing he slammed his cock into the hole. Stiles gave a wild cry and bucked up. Peter just thrust into him again, setting a bruising pace that he knew drove his mate wild. It didn’t take him long to come with a howl. Stiles came, untouched, with a wild cry and sob. 

Peter fell on top of Stiles, breathing harshly. Stiles whimpered underneath him and Peter started to rumble a soothing noise from deep in his chest. Running gentle hands up and down his mate he adjusted them so he could scoop Stiles up and headed down the hall and into the large bathroom. Starting the water running, he finished undressing himself, all while not letting go of Stiles. 

Once he was undressed, he carefully settled into the tub and cradled Stiles to his chest. The sobs started soon after and Peter held him tight through them. Once Stiles quieted, Peter finished washing him and helped him climb shakily out of the tub and get dry. Cocooning the boy in blankets, Peter went back out to get water and food. Thankfully, Stiles was coming out of his stupor by then and ate quietly. Peter just kept crooning out praise while touching and rubbing his mate. Eventually Stiles fell into an exhausted sleep. 

Slipping into wolf form, Peter quietly padded outside and looped their small piece of land to assure himself that no one could get through and on the off chance someone did he would know about it instantly. He was finally calming down himself as he came back into the house and trotted back into the bedroom. Staying in full shift he hopped up on the bed and snuggled his way into Stiles’ arms. A very large part of his instincts were screaming at him to go and kill Derek before the alpha came after him again. But even with all the possible threat of Derek, he didn’t know if he was consciously capable of killing a family member. The very idea of it made him feel sick. 

Stiles’ phone blaring woke both of them up at 2am. Peter growled and tried to flop his body over Stiles to keep him from rolling over to answer it. Internally he was cursing himself for collecting it out of the jeep and bringing it into the room before he went patrolling. Stiles wriggled his way out from under him and ignoring the growl he answered the damn phone. Peter huffed and glared. Silently vowing pain upon whoever had dared to interrupt Stiles’ sleep. 

“Lydia?” 

“Stiles? Oh my god, I don’t know -- please can you come I...I don’t know how I got here and I’m scared.” 

Stiles was instantly sitting up and fully awake, reaching out a hand to grip at Peter’s scruff. “Lydia, ok, it’s ok, do you know where you are? Are you safe?” 

“I’m somewhere in the woods, I think I walked here, I don’t know. I just woke up and I was here. And Stiles...there’s a dead body, it’s a girl, oh god, Stiles…” 

“Lydia, I need you to focus, got it? I know you can focus. Focus on me and my voice and take a breath and hold it for five seconds, then release and…” 

Peter tuned out the phone conversation and was already out of the bed and shifted into human to get dressed and go grab his own phone and keys. By the time he came back into the room, Stiles was also dressed and had his phone on speaker while trying to log into Lydia’s phone plan to use GPS to find her. Peter leaned against the door and waited a few more moments. The banshee is at least calmer now and Stiles has talked her into describing more of her surroundings. 

Peter takes a moment to feel proud of his mate and also pleased that Stiles can take this part of the pack on. He knows that being able to sooth people (that are not Stiles) is a weakness of his. He can be charming and suave but actually kind and soothing is not his strongpoint. To hear Stiles easily taking up that role with Lydia reminds him of how well he chose for a mate. 

“Ok, I’ve found your general location. Peter can sniff you out once we get there. Can you make those symbols on the trees like I told you?” 

“I can try…” 

“Good, do that. I need to hang up and call Jackson, all right? I’ll tell him to call you when I get off the phone with him.” 

Stiles had Peter pull up to one of the least used parking points to get into the public part of the preserve. Lydia’s car was sitting there and her scent was easy for him to find. Lizard boy is barely minutes behind them and is out snarling in a way that makes Peter truly sad for Derek’s betas. Do these puppies have any control at all? Walking over he grabbed Jackson firmly by the back of the neck and shook him slightly. 

“Focus. Breath. You are of no use to anyone if you can’t control yourself.” 

Stiles slid up beside him and hummed a bit before bumping shoulders with the teenager. “Come on Jax, I know you got this. Lydia needs you to be calm.” 

Between his and Stiles’ movements and words Jackson pulled back the shift and gave them both an irritated looking grimace. “Don’t fucking leave again, got it Stilinski? Apparently my wolfy side has decided it needs you.” 

Peter rolled his eyes and smacked the little irritant on the back of the head. “There are no wolf vs. human sides of you, it’s all just you. What has Derek been teaching you?” 

The boy slumped and looked away. “Doesn’t teach me much at all. Got into a huge fight after Stiles disappeared and he told me to submit or leave. I left.” 

Interesting. Well, he already knew Derek was too drunk on the alpha high to pay enough attention to anything else. Sighing he rubbed the back of the young wolf’s neck again. Jackson relaxed into the touch. Stiles just started marching into the forest leaving the two wolves to roll their eyes together. Peter’s lips twitched. This could be very good, having someone at the school to help keep an eye on his mate. The boy has almost zero self preservation instincts and it makes Peter nervous every time he’s on his own. 

Lydia ends up not being very far away for which Peter is grateful for. He can tell that Stiles is still exhausted from the day before and he also knew there was no way he would be able to get away with carrying Stiles in front of Jackson. As soon as they come in sight the redhead flings her arms around lizard boy while Stiles steps forward to check the body. He was about to make some pithy comments about nighttime wanderings when the stuttered gasp and fast upbeat of Stiles’ heart make him push past them to get to his mate’s side. 

“Stiles?” This can’t just be the death, but he can smell salt just before a tear runs down the boy’s face. 

“There’s magic here.” Stiles said, though his voice sounded strangled. Peter reached him and gently laid a hand on his back. Looking down at the body he sees a young girl, blond and would have been pretty if not for the gash through her neck. 

“You knew her.” He keeps his voice soft. Stiles nodded and looked away. 

“Heather.” Lydia’s voice is small behind them. Jackson let out a curse but moved forward to grip Stiles’ shoulder for a moment.   
Peter can tell the moment that Stiles decided to push it away for now and focus. The air sharpens with the smell of ozone and resolve hardens around his face. Peter can’t help the shiver that goes through him at this. 

“This feels the same as the birds at school. It’s a sacrifice.” Peter hums thoughtfully in response, his mind working through the possibilities. He can tell Stiles is doing the same and he takes a moment to wish they had been able to spend more time studying before coming back. They had thought the biggest threat was the alphas so they had focused on defensive and offensive magic against werewolves. A dark magic user of unknown origin and strength is an entirely different matter. Stiles isn’t ready to face something like this, he’s too new to his magic and whomever this is clearly knows what they are doing. 

“Drawing strength through sacrifice is not as easy as it looks. It requires a lot of focus and a lot of rage.” Peter murmured. 

“We need to call the police.” Stiles said, looking around at everyone before rubbing a hand over his face. “Shit...this is going to really suck. Lydia, could you make the call? Just say the truth, you called us first, lost, then we tracked the GPS.” 

“What happens when they ask why I’m out here in the middle of the night? When this happened…” She stopped and glared at Peter, “when this happened before my mom was starting to talk about putting me on pills and even hospital visits.” 

Stiles glared at her and hissed back. “We can’t just leave her body here and hope someone else finds it. Telling the truth without the supernatural is the best way. Say you and Jackson met here for a lark in the woods or something, I don’t fucking care, but we are not leaving Heather out here one more minute than we have to.” 

Lydia flinched backwards and Jackson scowled at Stiles. Peter tightened his grip on the boy’s waist and pulled him closer. “It’s all right, sweetheart, we’re all just stressed and tired. Lydia, I can promise you if your mother tries any of that when you don’t want it, I will get you legal emancipation and the financial means to live on your own.” 

The girl looked at him in surprise. “I...ok...Stiles, I’m sorry. I just panicked but you’re right and I know things with your dad...I’m sorry.” 

They all moved back to the small parking area after Lydia made the phone call. Stiles just anxiously sat there pressed up tight into Peter. He kept his arm around his mate’s shoulders and engaged Lydia in a discussion of what a Banshee was and their powers. It seemed to help bring back the fiery personality he remembered which in turn made Jackson relax some. He acknowledged that he had on some level been aware of her gifts and that his forays into magic let him make the connection even in death. 

“It wasn’t fully me though. It was...almost like a piece of me that I created one day years before the fire as an experiment. I found this old spell for werewolves and most spells can’t be used by werewolves so the idea that I could cheat death. Well, I was young and arrogant, so I did it. I am sorry what it put you through, I truly am…” 

Thankfully, she seemed to accept both his explanation and apology. He was a little glad that Stiles was so distracted as he was sure that his mate would have interrogated him to get the full actual details out of him right there. As it was, he could only hope the boy would wait until they were alone to process what he said and call bullshit. It wasn’t a complete lie. It just wasn’t the complete truth. He had been tied to the shade of himself, haunting Lydia and aware of his actions. He didn’t have full control over it as it had been made that day when he experimented but -- yes, better for her not to know the full extent of the magic he knew and how it all worked. 

The sheriff cruiser pulled up just then and Stiles tensed. Unsure if Stiles wanted anyone to know about them, Peter started to withdraw his arm but stopped at the quick shake of Stiles’ head. He had to fight to keep the smirk off his face as inside he was howling triumphantly at being able to publicly claim Stiles as his own. As the sheriff climbed out of the vehicle the man froze at the sight of Stiles standing there. The boy gave a slight wave. 

“Um, hey dad, I’m back, in case that wasn’t obvious. But you know, that’s not why we’re here, so um, Lydia can tell you why we’re here and --” 

Peter moved to the side as Noah Stilinski stepped up to drag his son into a furious hug. Stiles froze, wide eyed before haltingly hugging his dad back. 

“Uh, daddio, um --” 

“I’m so sorry, Stiles, god, I’m so glad you came back. I’m so sorry son.” 

Peter could hear the relief and pain in the voice as Stiles tucked his head in his dad’s shoulder and shakingly held back just as tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update might be a couple days. This week is busier and I've gotten to the end of my prewritten chapters. I have the second half of the next chapter written and the first half of the one after written but both of these might get moved to three and four chapters away as the plot has gotten away from me a bit. So sorry you might have more chapters? Mostly sorry it will take longer...I really thought I was almost done writing when I started posting but once again in edit mode I ended up adding a whole bunch of plot that has expanded it.


	8. in Which Stiles Meets a Darach

It had truly been a shit show of a day. Like, one of those days that made you question if you had somehow pissed off a vengeance demon. Maybe he had pissed off a demon or a trickster spirit or something to explain why this day had gone from shitty to worse every hour it progressed. Well, at least he got smoking hot sex out of the deal. Thank all the non-vengeance gods for Peter. It was probably a sign of how insane his life had gotten that he was thanking various deities for the existence of Peter Hale in his life. Scott would be so horrified at him right now. 

His dad’s voice thankfully dragged him out of thoughts of Scott before he could truly rabbit hole down that depressing warren. “I know we need to talk but I would say the dead body takes priority right now.” 

Stiles pulled back out of the unexpected hug and blinked furiously. “Yeah, yeah...shit, dad...it’s Heather.” 

His father’s face crumbled slightly. “Aw hell, kid.” 

He looked away. His emotions were a tangled jumble and he was so tired. 

Tara came up in her cruiser at that point so everyone got distracted. Soon, they had four other deputies with two of the dogs in tow. The rest of the night seemed to almost pass in a slow motion blur. Everyone was told to come down to the station to give statements, Peter drove Stiles and Jackson drove Lydia. Peter waited until they ha\d been in the car for a few moments before asking quietly, “Heather?” 

Stiles let his head rest on the window. “Her mom and my mom were best friends so we kind of grew up together. Her mom kind of kept my dad afloat after my mom…We stayed as close as we could but they lived out of the town limits and got sent to a private school in Redding. It just hit me hard, like someone who shouldn’t have anything to do with any of this and it still got her.” 

Peter reached out to take his hand and tangled their fingers together for the rest of the drive. He appreciated the silence as a chance to try and pull his scrambled thoughts together. He wasn’t sure how to react to his dad’s reaction to seeing him. Like, the man said sorry but what did that mean? What was expected of him now? 

Their arrival at the sheriff station put these thoughts out of his mind for the moment and he turned his attention to how to explain his presence in the woods. Thankfully, Lydia kept to her statement they had pushed her to say. After their statements they were allowed to go home but Lydia wanted to further interrogate Peter so they all trooped over to the 24 hour diner and got food while Peter talked further with both Lydia and Jackson. Stiles mostly half dozed off, his head on Peter’s shoulder. 

By the time they finished it was almost time to get up for school. Peter took Stiles home so he could shower and change and then drove him to school. “Don’t leave the building without me being outside. Understand?” Stiles waved at him, groggily, in agreement. 

Jackson became his shadow for the day while Lydia fended off anyone after gossip about Heather’s death. Derek’s betas ignored him for the most part other than giving him strange looks over desks. He noticed the twins today though mostly tried to ignore them. It was hard though, they kept smirked and winking whenever they caught his eye. One of them even grabbed his ass in the hall and it was only because Stiles had a brief panic that kept Jackson from attacking them. 

He practically burst out of the school and into Peter’s car as soon as the bell rang. Peter took one look at him and drove them straight home. As soon as they were inside he pulled Peter to him in a desperate kiss. He just needed to do something to get this crawling feeling off his skin. It had been creeping over him all day. It just felt like there was something wrong but he couldn’t figure out what it was. 

Peter moved slowly this time. Stiles was lowered onto the bed and Peter’s lips ravaged his mouth while hands danced up and down his torso and legs. He was soon whining with need but Peter just nipped his neck and told him to be a good boy and wait. Blunt fingernails raked at his skin as the wolf dragged off his shirt in order to suck in more bruises down his body. Keening he arched up, trying desperately to get friction but a hand on his hips held him firmly against the bed. 

“Come on Peter, I need you, gods, come on…” 

“Not yet little spark, I am going to take you apart and put you all back together again. I want you screaming my name before we are through today.” 

“Yes...please Peter…” 

Dexterous hands made their way down to his belt. As Peter’s mouth started to alternate between biting and sucking his nipples the wolf slid off the belt. Fingertips teased along the edge of his jeans for what seemed like ages as the mouth just kept sucking and nipping. Finally, the button of his jeans were undone and the zipper slipped down. He wriggled, trying to get everything off but a growl and sharp bite to his sternum made him freeze. 

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Peter worked his way back down and gently dragged his briefs down. Hot breath ghosted over his cock and he whined and begged but Peter only reached out to give tiny licks until Stiles thought he was going to burst with need. With a low rumble, Peter took his entire length down and sucked hard. It took him almost an embarrassingly short amount of time to come after that. As soon as he came, Peter lazily pulled out his own cock and slowly jerked off while watching Stiles with a possessive gleam in his eye. 

Stiles was pretty sure he fell asleep for a bit after that. Peter answering his phone woke him up and he thought he half asked a question when Peter said, “It’s your father.” 

Yelping, he flung himself up and yanked the phone out of Peter’s hand. “Dad? Hey, hi.” 

“Stiles...I was hoping we could maybe have dinner together?” 

“Uh…” He shot a glance at Peter, who (unhelpfully) shrugged. “...sure.” 

“Great. That’s great. I got chicken marinating that I thought I could grill and even got stuff for a salad. See you at 6:30?” 

“Yeah, yeah, dad, sounds good. Ok um --” 

“Oh and bring Peter too. Figure I might as well get to know my son’s boyfriend, right?” 

Stiles only had the chance to yelp out a “Right.” back at the man before the line went dead. Staring at his phone like it was a snake, he moaned and tried to smother himself into the bed. Peter, the traitor, dragged him back up and into the shower. 

By the time he was staring at the door to what used to be his home he was second guessing every decision that had led him here. It was only Peter’s warmth at his back that gave him the courage to step up and through the door. His dad greeted him with a smile and another hug before offering Peter a beer (he was beginning to wonder if he was dreaming). They made stilted conversation about school, department news, the weather and who knows what else while the sheriff grilled. The food was good and it gave them all a break from talking around the awkward elephant in the room. When they had finished eating and the conversation had trailed off into silence, Stiles shifted in his chair debating the pros and cons of just bolting out of the house. It was only Peter’s hand on his thigh keeping him there. 

“I know words are never going to be enough to make up for what I said to you. But I’ll say it again, I’m sorry Stiles. I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to actually know my son well enough to know he would never lie to me like that.” His dad looked slightly broken and Stiles had to swallow around a lump in his throat. 

Hesitantly he asked, “Does that mean you believe me? About...werewolves?” 

His dad huffed and leaned forward to lean his elbows on the table. “Yes. I do. After I came home and you were gone, I was convinced you’d be back again. So I waited and worked and drank. You didn’t come back and I woke up one morning on the couch and saw the empty beer cans all around me and…I thought to myself, what if this is what Stiles comes back to? How can I ever face my son like this? So I threw it all away and went and took a month leave. Went down over to a place near Eureka and checked myself in. Longest month of my life...had all sorts of people poking at all these things I’d done. It was worth it though to realize where I’d been letting you down. Hard truths and I didn’t want to face them but in the end I did. I just hope it’s not too late for us.” 

Stiles had no idea what to say to this long confession. He sat there a bit in shock as he digested it. Then his feet seemed to move on their own as he got up and moved around the table to pull his dad into a tight hug. He wasn’t sure how long they stood there as they both had immediately started crying. Eventually he pulled back. Still feeling very raw and having no idea where to look or sit he cast a look back at Peter for help. His mate rose smoothly over to place a hand on his waist. 

“Perhaps we should move this to the living room? I have a feeling there is going to be more confessions by the time the evening has run its course.” 

Once they were seated and he had Peter’s warmth pressed against him to ground him, he finally opened his mouth to respond. “Dad I...I don’t really know what to say. I don’t think I can say I forgive you yet. It just...hurt so much but I want to forgive you. I want us to be ok and work on this. I’m not moving home though. I’m um...you probably guessed but I’m living with Peter. He has a cabin up north that we were at for the summer. And uh, well, I don’t know how much you remember from what I told you but Peter...he’s a…” 

“Werewolf?” His dad cut in. 

“Yup… Are you...ok with that?” 

Shaking his head and leaning back into the chair, the sheriff snorted. “Son, I am still struggling with this entire concept to be honest. I had decided to believe you but it wasn’t until I saw Scott shift in front of me that it all hit me and that was only a couple weeks ago. I’m ok with it because you're ok with it. Honestly, I’m a little more worried about the thirty four year old part of the relationship than the werewolf one.” 

Stiles eeped a bit and flailed. “Ok, that’s fair I guess. Um…” 

“No, no, you don’t have to justify it to me. I lost that right when I essentially kicked you out of the house. I just want to know if you are ok and happy.” 

The rest of the conversation slowly went easier as the night went on. Stiles began to relax and start to enjoy that he had his dad back. Even more than having him back, it felt like this new thing was even better than what they had before. He explained some of what he and Peter had been doing and about Derek’s current pack situation. They left out the alpha pack and all the dangers there. Stiles wasn’t ready to talk about it at all and let alone to someone who was still struggling a bit with the concept of the supernatural. 

Peter pulled them out of there at a somewhat reasonable hour so they could get back and go to sleep. He was out almost as soon as he crawled into bed. Waking up the next morning he felt better than he had all week. He’d actually gotten a good night of sleep and one major stress was out of his life. Now, they just had to figure out what the hell to do about Deucalion. They decided the easiest target to hit would be one of the twins. The problem would be separating them. They worked out a few ideas and Peter decided he would need to spend some time sniffing out all their scents. 

School went about the same as the day before except that Stiles was more awake so when one of the twins made a grab at him, he had his spray bottle of wolfsbane and managed to spritz the psycho in the face. He got detention for it and the bottle confiscated but it was totally worth it in his opinion to make that particular alpha think twice about messing with him. 

Thursday passed about the same but without the evil twins grabbing at him. The other difference was finding out before school started that another body had been found in the preserve. Killed the exact same way Heather had been. He sat down to english class in the morning with his thoughts churning. Miss Blake walked in and he almost gagged from the overwhelming feelings of darkness coming from her. Lydia paled at her entrance as well and told him at lunch that she felt like death was clinging to their teacher. 

They were both convinced she was the one murdering people but they also had no idea what to do about it. Friday morning came with another death and Stiles was furious as he sat in his seat, glaring at the teacher. She ignored him completely. Lydia had stayed home sick and Jackson went over to check on her at lunch time. Stiles waffled between leaving himself to try and figure out what to do with Peter or to just confront the teacher. He knew Peter believed he wasn’t ready to face another magic user but the three deaths were weighing on him and the itching wrongness coming from her was driving him insane. 

He ended up retreating to the library to try and find some quiet to think about it. Erica had been shadowing him all week so he activated one of his bracelets so the werewolf couldn’t find him. It would have the added benefit of keeping about thing one and thing two as well. He occupied himself with trying to figure out a rune array that might be able to trap another magic user. It was almost the end of lunch time when he felt himself start to feel cold. Looking around he frowned when he saw that nobody was there. When he had come in there had been about half a dozen other students also avoiding people. 

He started to get up but stumbled and hit the edge of the table. A cold feeling of dread rippled through him. He reached down and pulled out his phone but his fingers were so cold they were fumbling and he dropped the phone. He reached down to try and grab it when a voice distracted him. 

“Stiles.” Miss Blake was walking towards him smiling slightly. But something was wrong about her. The edges of her blurred slightly in his vision and he blinked, trying to bring it back into focus. “Stiles.” She said again, now only a few feet away from him. The air around him was thrumming with magic now and numbness was seeping through him. He tried to jerk backwards and call up his own magic but a hand curled around his throat and everything went black. 

When he woke up the air around him was heavy and everything felt distant. He was lying on top of something hard and he couldn’t move his arms or legs. Panic threatened to set in but he forced himself to take deep, steady breaths, trying to breathe his way through the initial fear. 

“Good, you’re awake.” 

Managing to twist his head to the right he saw Miss Blake standing close to...was this a stump? He tried to twist again but now he was able to see that his arms were splayed out and bound to the stump with vines that tightened painfully as he tried to move. He tried to push his magic into the plants and almost blacked out because the pain that flooded through him was so intense. 

Miss Blake laughed. “Oh, little spark, you won’t be able to get away now. It’s been so long since the nemeton has been bound to anyone or anything it will never let you go.” 

“This is the nemeton?” Stiles tried pulling away again as he spoke. More vines seemed to come out of the stump and twist around his torso now. 

“So you have heard of it. I wondered, you are still so untrained, barely enough awareness to notice me. I knew you had power though. Someone untrained as you are should never have caught even the faintest whisper of my me.” 

“Why? Are you like the invisible man of magic users?” He fell back on sarcasm as his defense. 

“It will be interesting to see how long it takes for you to move to pleading.” Her voice was almost disinterested, as if this was only a passing curiosity and she didn’t really care one way or the way. The panic from earlier threatened to set in again. 

“What the hell do you mean by that?” He tried to keep his own voice steady but was almost positive he failed in that regard. 

She had come up to stand on the stump now, looking over him. “You’ll be the last sacrifice, Stiles, the one that ties all the rest of them together. You’ll lie here with the nemeton slowly draining your life away while I complete my five fold knot. Only then will you get the relief you’ll be begging for.” A slow, cruel smile came over her face. “I was going to wait when I noticed a spark in my class, wait for the end but then...well, I couldn’t have you ruining anything.” 

“Someone will find me.” 

She laughed. “Talia Hale had the useless druid hide the Nemeton so no one can find it. She was afraid of it and its power. No, Stiles, no one will find you.” 

She turned and started to walk away. Stiles did panic then, he called out to her not even sure what he was shouting out but soon she was gone. His panic attack set in fully then. He was pretty sure he blacked out again because the next time he was coherent it was dark out. Once he was awake again, he tried desperately to reach into his magic but everytime he did the pain would start again. He also tried to reach for his bond with Peter but it was slippery and he couldn’t get a grip on it. He let himself cry then and drift back off into darkness. 

Pain ripping through him woke him up and he wrenched against his bonds and screamed. The waves of pain slowly tapered off, leaving his sobbing and shaking against the tree trump. Someone had died he realized with a jolt. She had killed someone for her sacrifices. He focused on the Nemeton underneath him again. If he didn’t try and directly use his magic he could sense it. New power was rippling through it but something felt wrong about it. Not fully sentient but also not just a tree it seemed to shudder almost as the power seeped in deeper. He closed his eyes and tried to breath deep to see if he could feel any deeper. 

_tell me._ he asked in his mind as best he could. _tell me what is wrong, let me help._

A shudder rippled through him now and sensations flooded through him. _protect, guide, heal, grow, guard._

“This isn’t what you were meant for.” He whispered into the night air. Of course not, he thought now remembering the journal he had read. The Nemeton had been planted as a guardian to connect with the pack and help them protect the land. A safe haven for all supernatural creatures. Blake just wanted to use it for its power and nothing else. Sacrifice was only meant to be voluntary and not stolen lives. She was twisting its purpose but it was too weak to fight back. 

Let his mind go open he leaned into the sensations rippling through the roots of the tree and the air around him. _Peter_ , he thought urgently, _Peter, I need you._

There, the bond between him and his mate stiffened in him, reaching out. With a sob he tugged on it inside himself. “Peter, peter, I need you.” He said out loud, not able anymore to focus enough to use just his mind. A howl split the night air and the bond trembled slightly as he felt Peter latch onto it. His mate was coming. 

Stiles tried to keep taking deep breaths and slowly try to connect himself even more with the nemeton. “I can help you.” He said to it, “I can help you be what you should be. Please help me.” 

The air around him seemed to tense in anticipation as magic started to fill it. A crack of noise echoed through the clearing around the stump and Miss Blake stood there again. “What are you doing?” She came up to him and glared. “How are you doing any of this? I bound your magic, you shouldn’t be able to access it at all.” 

He opened his mouth to say what he didn’t know but she slammed a hand down on the stump and he felt like bolt after bolt of electricity was racing through him. He thought he screamed again but he wasn’t sure. He felt terror and rage coming through his bond to Peter but his mate felt too far away.. He could barely make out Blake’s face as the pain just seemed to grow and grow. Desperately, he reached down into the nemeton, _help me_ , he pleaded. He opened his eyes again to see Blake now standing above him. Her eyes were completely black and she held a knife raised in the air. Her voice was chanting something but he couldn’t hear any of the words she was saying. 

He heard a voice shouting his name in the distance but everything seemed to hold still around him and his english teacher. It was as if a bubble had wrapped around this dying tree stump and nothing else could get through it. Every breath he took was agony as he reached down deep into his spark. Laying his palms flat against the rough wood he scrapped them back and forth until blood formed. 

“I give myself to you, this land, Peter as my alpha, and the pack we will build.” It hurt to get the words out because his voice was so raw. He reached out through his bond with Peter again and with all the strength left in him, he pulled. A roar filled the night sky just as Miss Blake plunged the dagger down into Stiles’ chest. Peter was there an instant later and tore into her with claws and teeth. She screamed and lashed out sending him flying. 

She was bleeding freely from the claw marks but she didn’t look affected otherwise. Peter roared and lunged at her but vines sprung up and twisted around him, dragging him to the ground. Stiles shouted out and wrenched his now free body up as much as he could. He slipped on his own blood and half knelt there. Watching her advance on Peter made him furious. He grabbed at the knife in his chest and tore it out of himself. Barely conscious now he gathered up any of his magic in him and threw it towards her. 

The knife seemed to take on a mind of its own as it flew straight and impaled itself in her chest. She spun around and he gasped as he felt her reach out to tug at his own magic again. Just as he thought he was going to pass out from fighting her pull Peter was there. The wolf slammed his jaws down on her throat and tore at it while ripping her sides with his claws. Finally, her eyes turned lifeless and she fell over. Stiles felt like his entire body was on fire and air couldn’t seem to fill his lungs. Gasping, he tried to call out Peter’s name but couldn’t. 

“Shhh...sweetheart, it’s ok, I have you. I have you.” Peter’s hands brushed over his face and there was a hand on his chest. Wetness hit his cheeks and he dimly realized Peter was crying. He tried to reach up a hand or say something to reassure his mate but no words would come out. 

“No, no, no, no, Stiles, please, no…” Peter curled up around him, black spots danced in his vision. Peter’s hand was holding his neck and he was dragged into the wolf’s lap. He let out a whimper of pain but it slowly receded. Opening his eyes again he saw black lines standing out starkly against his mate’s skin. 

“I’ve got you, Stiles, you aren’t going to die, I won’t let you die, I love you, I love you.” 

Somehow he could breathe again, gasping he managed to get out, “Peter…”

“Yes, sweetheart, yes, you’re going to be ok.” 

The lines on Peter’s face grew darker and the wolf’s skin was looking ashy and pale. Why was he feeling this much better? The ache in his chest was almost nonexistent. With startling clarity, he realized what was happening. “No. Peter. Stop.” He tried to push himself away from his mate but he was still too weak. Peter reached down, the wolf was trembling now, and kissed Stiles slowly and gently. 

“I love you.” 

“Peter! No. Please.” Stiles struggled to cling back but now he could feel Peter slipping away from him. 

“I won’t let you be the one who dies sweetheart.” Peter whispered to him. “You have so much life to live. I can give this to you, please let me.” 

Stiles knew he was crying again as he watched the life drain away from his mate. He screamed and slammed a hand behind him on the nemeton. No. This was not fair. This could not happen. With all the strength he could muster in his body he flung his arms around Peter and held on tight. His spark was barely an ember inside of him but he found it and whispered to it, _burn_. 

_ours…_ the nemeton whispered inside him. _protector, guardian, ours._

Yes. He followed the trail of the nemeton’s voice and let himself get lost in its roots. It remembered so much. Flashes of lives flooded through his mind. He saw alphas and sparks standing together to protect their people and their lands. Not just wolves came to them but so many other supernatural beings as well. 

_We will be this for you._ Stiles promised with his whole being. _We have both given ourselves freely to you._

Light burst forth in the clearing around them as Stiles reopened his eyes. He pulled back and saw Peter’s eyes burn bright red as color rushed back into his mate’s skin. Triumph roared through him as he felt the connection bloom and grow between him and Peter, between the nemeton and them. It was almost overwhelming. He could sense the entirety of Beacon County at once. Flares of supernatural power were scattered around the county, he could feel all of them. They were all theirs now, theirs to protect. 

Peter kissed him long and deep then threw back his head and howled. The howl reverberated through the forest. It seemed to only amplify the farther it got and Stiles knew with a certainty it had been heard throughout the entire county. Laughing he clung to his mate and alpha. They were alive!


	9. In Which Peter Reclaims what was His

Peter gently ran a hand down the naked back of his mate and smiled. What had been one of the worst days of his life had turned into one of the best days. Part of him was still reeling from the emotional whiplash. Once he had gotten Stiles home after the nemeton they had pretty much torn the clothes off one another. He had just needed to feel Stiles, alive, underneath him and Stiles had needed to feel the same. 

He sunk back down into the bed and pulled his mate up to entangle their limbs together. This boy had become such a gift to him. He’d had no idea when he had felt that initial pull over a year ago now that this scrappy teenager would be the one to save his life. He pressed his lips against Stiles’ forehead and let the exhaustion of the day and night catch up to him and pull him back into sleep. 

He woke up hard and with the power of the alpha spark and the nemeton thrumming through him. He flipped Stiles over so the boy was on his back before swallowing down his mate’s cock. Stiles gave a low moan and bucked up his hips in his sleep. Peter grinned around the cock and gave several loud sucks to the tip. He heard the hitch of Stiles’ breath before the eyes opened sleepily. 

“Oh gods...Peter…fuck yes…” 

“As you wish, pet.” Peter pulled off him, ignoring the grumble of complaint, and began to kiss his way up the beautiful body beneath him. He made sure to suck several large bruises into Stiles’ neck before capturing his lips and plunging into his mate’s mouth. While continuing the kiss he began to work two fingers into Stiles’ still loose hole from the night before. Quickly finding his prostate, Peter pressed down and went back to sucking more bruises against the pale neck as he pressed the pleasure spot inside Stiles relentlessly. Stiles came abruptly with a loud cry and Peter quickly grabbed more lube to slick himself up before flipping Stiles back on his stomach.

He pressed into his mate with one quick thrust and took up a bruising pace. Stiles just moaned and writhed with pleasure beneath him. The scent of Stiles, magic, arousal mixed with his own scent was so heady, he felt like he was drowning in the pleasure of it all. He dragged Stiles up to his knees and pounded harder and faster. Stiles quickly got hard again and Peter growled with the pleasure of it as he wrapped his arms around the boy’s middle and came with one last slam of the hips. 

As he was coming, he felt the beginnings of his knot begin to form and he moaned deeply and his hips stuttered, grinding into Stiles harder. His mate made a punched out moaning sound and the only thing that kept the boy from collapsing was his arms circled around the waist. He pressed fervent kisses into the back of Stiles’ neck and murmured praises into his ears. 

“So good for me, my mate, you are going to take my knot so well, my beautiful boy. Come for me again, my love.” 

He reached down and gripped Stiles’ cock and began to jerk him off, slow and smooth. Stiles came with a shout just as Peter’s knot finished forming and he came the second time. The two of them collapsed on their sides together. Peter continued to rub his hands soothingly all over Stiles’ body and press kisses down his neck and shoulders. Peter let himself drift slightly, the pleasure of being with his mate like this was euphoric and wonderful. 

His knot came back down eventually and he drew out of Stiles who hissed at the drag. He pulled some of the pain and gave some more kisses. After that he scooped up his mate and brought him into the shower. Stiles grumbled slightly at him but was still fairly groggy so gave into Peter’s administrations easily. He took great pleasure at cleaning his mate and carefully applying healing salve to the aches and pains. Stiles kept dragging him up for more kisses which Peter was happy to oblige. 

By the time they were both dressed it was almost noon. Stiles grimaced at the clock. “Shit, well, hopefully nobody was expecting to hear from me this morning.” 

Peter leaned against him with a snort. “Lydia can hold off for a few more hours before bombarding me with questions again about banshees.” 

Stiles snickered into his coffee. “I can’t wait to see the look on her face when I tell her how right we were about the english teacher.” 

He frowned at Stiles feeling appalled. “That Darach was your English teacher?” 

Stiles blinked at him. “Oh yeah, we didn’t really talk about how I got there last night did we? Or how you found me.” 

“Dear boy, you led me to you. But yes, I want to hear what happened and we also need to talk about how I became an alpha. Not that I’m complaining...it just...it feels like the Hale spark but pure as if it was passed to me as it should have been and not stolen like how I did it with Laura.” 

Stiles frowned thoughtfully. “I think...it might be the Hale spark.” 

“That does not make sense. Derek is --” 

Stiles waved a hand interrupting him. “Yeah, but when that power was rushing through me...it was like the land wanted you, was asking for you. The nemeton didn’t want the Darach. It wanted a spark and alpha together. Hales have pledged themselves to the nemeton for generations. According to the journals this stopped with your grandfather, which is how the nemeton got weak enough that it was able to be chopped down.” 

Stiles hesitantly rubbed circles around the rim of his coffee cup for a minute before speaking again. “What if...what if the Hale alpha spark was so closely tied to the nemeton that it almost belonged to it? There was the one story where the alpha couldn’t decide between his children who should be alpha after him. So he brought them both to the nemeton and let it decide.” 

Peter sucked in a deep breath. The implications of this… He looked sharply back at Stiles. “Call Jackson.” 

Stiles nodded and then scowled. “Uh, I don’t have my phone. She grabbed me from the school library and presumably either trashed my phone or it’s there with my jeep.” 

Peter sighed. “I guess you are going to end up going to school today.” 

As it was a Saturday there were only practicing sports teams at the school. They managed to sneak in and find Stiles’ backpack stuff in the english classroom. They brought the jeep back home immediately as they had no desire to meet up with any of the Hale pack or the alpha pack without having answers first. When Stiles plugged in the phone and turned it on he winced. 

Peter raised an eyebrow at him from where he was in the kitchen, starting dinner prep. “That bad?” 

“Uh, worse. I have 67 missed texts and 49 missed calls. The majority of the texts are from Jackson and Lydia with a smattering of Erica and Boyd, woah, didn’t know that hunk of muscle knew how to text...umm, huh, 8 missed calls from Scott, weird, and 20 calls from Erica, only 5 from Lydia, 10 from Jackson, 4 from Isaac, wow I thought he hated me, and 2 from...my dad. Shit.” 

Hearing the spike in heart rate, Peter went over to immediately wrap his arms about the boy’s middle so his chin could rest on his shoulder. “Any voicemails?” He asked softly, starting a low rumble he knew Stiles found soothing. 

“Yeah. My dad, Scott and Erica.” 

“Start with Erica.” 

“Good call.” 

Peter continued to rumble in his chest and rub soothing circles around Stiles’ stomach. Inwardly he was tense. If any of these morons managed to hurt Stiles more than they already had, he was fully ready to show them that what he had been before as Alpha was barely anything to what he could be now. He paused these thoughts as Erica’s voice started speaking. 

“Stilinski! Where the fuck are you? Some crazy shit just happened. Call me back. NOW.” 

“Well, that was unhelpful.” Peter murmured into Stiles shoulder where he had started pressing kisses. Stiles threw him a half glare before tapping the one from Scott. 

“Stiles, what the hell man, are you there? I heard Peter howl and my wolf wanted to go to him. Oh my god, do you think he killed Derek? I can’t get a hold of Isaac or any of the rest of his pack. Please call me back. I need your help.” 

Stiles just clicked right into the sheriff’s voicemail, not giving Peter any time for commentary. 

“Stiles. Son. I happened to patrol by the school and saw your jeep there. Just calling to check in.” 

Stiles slumped against Peter with a low moan. “Fuck. So we are probably right about this? Huh? The Hale spark did --” 

“What do the texts say.” Peter interrupted. He wasn’t sure he was ready to hear Stiles say it outloud yet. 

Reading over Stiles shoulder, he saw that they were mostly different iterations of ‘where are you’, ‘answer your phone’, etc… After the first few from Lydia and Jackson in that vein from Lydia and Jackson though they turned into worried ones asking if Stiles was ok and threats from Jackson if Stiles was ok and ignoring them on purpose he was going to make him not ok. Peter rolled his eyes but inwardly was pleased with the two teenagers. These might be good first pack members, especially if they would show loyalty to Stiles. 

With another glance at Peter, Stiles called Lydia. She picked up almost immediately.

“Stiles! What the hell. Where are you?” 

“Hey, Lydia...Look, I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose but Miss Blake tried to sacrifice me to a tree last night and by the time Peter got me out of there we just collapsed and slept and my phone was still with my jeep at school and we only just snuck back and got it --” 

“Stiles. Breath. Back up. Miss Blake tried to sacrifice you to a tree?” Her voice was steady but Peter could hear shock in it.

“Uh, yeah, apparently she was an evil druid who wanted the power of the nemeton to do...I mean I don’t even know why. She didn’t say that in her evil villain monologue.” 

“Oh my god. Why is this my life? No, Jackson, I’m still -- give that back!” 

“Stilinski! Is Peter there?” Jackson’s voice was urgent and a little shaky. 

“Ye...es?” Stiles answered. 

“Is he -- No, Lydia, you can ask that later - hey, ow. Lydia!” 

“Hello Stiles. Next time I see you, you better have mountain ash for me.” Peter grinned into Stiles’ neck. 

“Uh yeah, sure, I can do that. Listen is Jackson ok? He didn’t sound good.” 

They heard Jackson shouting something in the background. “Well, that depends I think, on Peter. We heard him howl last night. McIdiot says he knows for sure it was Peter and he felt a pull to find him, he says it was like before. When Peter was an alpha.” 

Stiles gave Peter a helpless look and he decided to take over. Smoothly relieving his mate of the phone he started speaking. “Ms. Martin, it is lovely to hear your voice again. I’ll have Stiles text you my address.” He ended the call before Lydia could even take a breath in response. 

“She’s going to be pissed you did that.” Stiles commented dryly as he made his way over to flop onto the couch. “Power plays like that are her thing.” 

“Oh, I’m very well aware of that. It’s exactly why I did it. I can’t start a relationship with a pack member with them having the upper hand. She needs to respect me for this to work.” 

Stiles made grabby hands at the phone. Peter rolled his eyes and handed it to the boy before flopping down on the couch to put his head in Stiles’ lap. Stiles started carding a hand through his hair while answering some of the other texts. He answered another call a few minutes later with a resigned sigh. 

“Erica.” 

“Stiles! What the fuck! Where --” 

“I already answered this in a text Erica. What part of being kidnapped by an insane dark druid who was posing as our english teacher doesn’t make sense to you?” 

“Where is Peter.” The female wolf hissed angrily. 

“I don’t have any reason to tell you that.” 

“What?” She was snarling now. Stiles sighed and poked Peter in the head. He waved a hand in the air to indicate he didn’t care. 

“Fine. He’s in the middle of sticking his dick into me.” 

Dead silence greated that and Peter had to stifle his laughter by turning over to bury his face into Stiles’ thigh. 

“Stilinski.” That was Boyd’s voice. “Look, man, we get we fucked up, ok? But we are not doing well. I think you...Derek’s not an alpha anymore and we...control is difficult right now. Derek kicked us out of the loft and we are all at the old train station. McCall is here too. We could really use some answers and maybe some help. Please.” 

Stiles wilted back into the seat. Peter nodded at him. “Yeah, Ok. That’s fair. I’m sorry I’m an ass. Jackson and Lydia are on their way to us right now. I can text you the address if you are all still ok enough to drive?” 

The relief in Boyd’s voice was evident. “Yes, we can do that. Thank you, Stiles.” 

It was only about ten minutes later that Lydia and Jackson showed up. Jackson stalked straight to Peter and bared his neck. Making a surprised but pleased rumble, Peter reached out and let his claws brush over the teen’s jugular. He grinned when the pack bond snapped in place. He raised an eyebrow at Lydia who looked startled. 

“What?” She said, drawing herself up defensively. 

Peter just smirked at her and didn’t say anything. She’d learn soon what it was like to be on the outside of a proper pack bond. He was confident she’d be coming to him to submit soon. While this exchange had been going on Jackson had moved over to Stiles and was scenting the boy aggressively. Stiles was pretending to be horrified but both the wolves could sense his pleasure at the proof of care. 

He went back to the kitchen to let the teens talk while he kept going with food preparation. Thankfully, he had enough to put together several large chicken parmesan trays to go in the oven. Having the bond with Jackson settled another part of him. As alpha he was content for the moment, to have his mate and beta close by and bonding. He could sense Scott approaching. Since his first bitten had never truly accepted Derek as alpha, his and Scott’s bond had never truly broken. It had only gone dormant when Peter came back as a beta. 

When Peter heard the sound of a car pulling up the gate he pushed his thoughts down and went to meet the rest of the pack. He grinned feeling the rush as he stepped out of the door and saw the nervous clump of wolves. He drew his face into a slightly more neutral expression as he got closer. He had laid the groundwork for this moment months ago. He opened the gate and waited for them to do or say something. 

Unsurprisingly, it was Erica who spoke first. “Alpha, uh, Hale...where is --?” 

“Stiles is in the house with my newest pack member.” Peter said cordially, smiling gently at the four betas. Erica’s eyes flashed briefly and she glared at him. 

“What did you do?” Scott finally said, shoving his way to the front. He was almost vibrating in distress. “You didn’t hurt Stiles, did you?” 

“I’m surprised to hear you care about Stiles, Scott. Afterall, I did technically kidnap him out of his bedroom and you didn’t even know he was missing, did you?” Peter's smile only widened as Scott took in this new information. “But, I suppose standing outside here is not the best place for a discussion like this. So please, come inside. I have dinner in the oven and there is enough for everyone.” 

Cautiously, the four of them shuffled into the house behind him. Scott and Erica immediately latched onto Stiles furiously asking him questions and then engaged in a mild shoving war with Jackson as all three of them wanted to sit next to Stiles. Peter had to hide laughter at the gobsmacked expression on his mate’s face. The poor boy was so used to everyone ignoring him that this obvious fight for his attention was throwing him off his game. Boyd and Isaac sat gingerly on the other chairs in the room while Lydia drifted into the kitchen to eye him warily. 

Seeing that Stiles was starting to get truly overwhelmed, he cleared his throat and leaned casually against the tabe until all eyes were on him. “Now, Stiles is going to tell you his story but only once. No interruptions and no judgment will be given. After his story is finished you may ask me questions, not Stiles. Understood?” Everyone slowly nodded though both Scott and Erica were scowling at him. 

Stiles went through once again what had happened the day before. When he got to the part of Peter becoming an alpha Scott made as if to speak but Peter’s low growl stopped the boy. He had to resist the urge to pick up the boy by the scruff of his neck and shake him. That Derek had let this omega stay in the territory for as long as he had was ridiculous. 

Surprisingly it was Isaac who was the first to move. The beta got up and walked over to Peter but stopped and looked at Stiles. Peter could smell the anxiety coming off the boy and he had a moment of sympathy for the beta. Isaac must have gotten what he needed from Stiles as the wolf moved the rest of the way to Peter and bared his neck. Feeling surprised but pleased, Peter gently reached out a hand and placed it on the neck. The bond snapped into place and he immediately sent a reassuring hum down it to the young wolf. Isaac shuddered a little but nodded and then moved towards the couch. Stiles shoved only a semi protesting Erica off to welcome Isaac who curled up around the spark. 

Erica stood up and shifted on her feet uneasily before crossing her arms and scowling at them all. “I still don’t understand why it would leave Derek and go to Peter. The alphaness I mean.” 

Peter sighed, save him from teenagers. “Derek was not properly guarding the land and its people as he should have been.” Raising up a hand to forestall the outcry, he continued, “Yes, it was not completely Derek’s fault. He was only 15 when almost his entire family was killed. Laura, however, would have known enough to do it mostly well. She should have taught these things to Derek but she didn’t. She ran away from the land and her responsibilities as an alpha. It doesn’t matter how young or scared she was with werewolves, things are different. Age does not matter, you have a duty to your land and people.” 

“That doesn’t seem fair.” Erica said firmly but Peter noticed she was beginning to crack a bit. 

He snorted, “Life isn’t fair. I know Derek warned you all about this, that is one thing my nephew knows intimately. Life isn’t fair, especially to werewolves. You all wanted it anyways so you have no one else to blame for your circumstances. All wolves must be part of a pack. If you do not wish to be in mine, then you will need to leave to find a pack somewhere else.” 

“We tried that and got caught by that psycho Deucalion!” Erica snarled at him now. 

He simply rolled his eyes. “That is not my problem. You are only my problem if you are in my pack. But, I will not allow any lone wolves in my territory. It’s too dangerous for the humans and too dangerous for me. Lone wolves draw in hunters or risk exposing us to mundanes.” 

Erica growled again, Peter could tell her control was on the verge of fraying. He could also feel the growing rage of Boyd on his side. The beta had stayed silent but that didn’t mean anything in regards to control. Such tightly held in emotions were sometimes even worse than the wolf who let it out at the tiniest annoyance. 

“You can’t force us to leave.” Scott stood as he spoke. The teen’s control was better than the other two but Peter could feel Scott’s ties to humanity wavering on the edges. He met his first beta’s eyes with red ones. 

“Can’t I?” He said softly, moving out of the kitchen and approaching the teen. 

“Scott…” Stiles almost whispered the words but they made Scott pause and look down. Peter could smell the conflicting emotions coming off Scott. 

“Stiles...is he...really?” 

Stiles smiled then, a small tired thing, but a smile nonetheless. “Yeah, Scott, really. I know it sucks and life is insane but if you could pull your head out of your ass for a few minutes here you might actually get a chance at that normal life you want. Peter is your best chance for that.” 

Scott regarded his friend for a long moment before turning to Peter. “No just barking orders and expecting us to follow without explanations. We aren’t your mindless drones or slaves.” 

Peter had to take a moment. He had not been expecting Scott to agree to this. He had truly thought the boy had completely abandoned his best friend for the hunter. Narrowing his gaze he stepped up so there was only a foot in between them. “No going behind your alpha’s back and making plans with shady druids. Stiles is my emissary, not Deaton.” 

Scott scowled slightly but nodded. Then taking a deep breath bared his neck to Peter. Feeling a deep satisfaction, Peter gripped the back of Scott’s neck tightly. Something clicked within him and a rush of power swept through his alpha spark. He hadn’t realized how having his first beta finally submit to him would make him feel so complete. He knew his eyes were blazing bright red as he stepped back. Scott’s face had a look of wonder on it. 

“Woah...that...wow.” 

Peter smirked. “Yes, Scott, that is how being a wolf and part of a pack is supposed to feel.” 

Stiles reached out and twacked him on the leg. “Hey, be nice, last time you were an alpha you were crazy and I set you on fire. It’s not like Scott’s had the chance yet to know the uncrazy you.” 

He gave a put upon sigh and slouched into one of the oversized chairs Stiles had insisted on him buying. Looking back at Boyd he raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been very quiet.” 

Boyd stared at him impassively. “What makes you different?” 

“All the help I gave for those months following my resurrection on how to actually control your shift and use your senses for more than just survival haven’t answered that question?” 

The tall werewolf shrugged. “How does it make things different with Stiles?” 

Stiles scowled. “How many times do I have to say I wanted this with Peter, I mean really --” 

“Wanting something doesn’t mean the other person is a good person.” Boyd cut in. “A lot of abuse victims said they chose it but that doesn’t make it right. I want to hear from Peter, why he chose you, why what he has with you is good and why he cares for you.” 

Peter barely managed to stop himself from leaping up defensively. Looking around the room he saw all of the teenagers now giving him challenging looks. Stiles just looked mad and was glaring at Boyd. Seeing his mate about to speak up Peter sent a nudge along the bond and Stiles’ mouth snapped shut. 

Sighing, he leaned back into the chair. “You ask a difficult question.” 

“But an important one.” Lydia said. 

He gave her a small nod of the head. “Fair enough. I chose Stiles for many reasons but the first one was that my instincts told me to all the way back to the night Scott was bitten. I knew he was a spark immediately, I was half mad and feral but my instincts knew having him in my pack would balance me. It changed to wanting more when he challenged me at the school, I was still half feral but he cleverly outwitted me and then spit in my face. I knew then that he was perfect. An alpha mate must be one unafraid to challenge and push back.” 

He paused, considering his next words carefully. More was at stake here than just a couple of pack members. What he said here would shape the pack’s future and how they followed him. 

“There are ways, as Deucalion so brazenly suggested, to force a mating bond. It leaves the alpha as the one still in complete power. While this can give the alpha what they need to be stable and extra power it does not create something meant for stabilizing a whole pack. A properly mated Alpha and Spark that both fully chose it carry a lot of power. They both share the strength between them and spread it out to the pack. At first I simply wanted Stiles in my pack but then I saw enough of him to know I would never be satisfied with less than a pure and mutual relationship.” 

A long silence followed this confession. Stiles has turned slightly pink and sunk down into the couch. All the betas are staring at his mate with surprise on their faces. Peter lets himself feel a little smug about it. It’s time that others learn the worth of this boy as well as he knows it. Boyd is the first to break the silence and slowly moves towards Peter. Stiles gives him a mental nudge so with a sigh he pushes himself back out of the chairs to stand as Boyd reaches him. Boyd looks at Erica as he speaks. 

“We were promised a lot of things when we became wolves. Many things went wrong and there were a lot of things that I didn’t take the time to truly understand about it.” Boyd’s gaze snaps back to look at Peter. “I would like to be in your pack. I do this out of my trust of Stiles, not you. You still have to earn that trust.” 

Peter grinned, sharp and feral. “That is entirely fine with me.” 

Erica marches up as soon as Boyd moves away. She glared at him. “I don’t like you. I think the way you treated Derek is super fucked up. I will be in your pack but I’m going to be watching you. You better treat Stiles and us right or I will kill you.” 

“I would expect nothing less.” 

The oven timer dings, signaling dinner. Once they are all seated at the table the mood of the room seems to lighten and everyone starts chatting again. Nobody mentions Derek. In fact, there seems to be an unspoken agreement to talk about Derek. Stiles sits next to him and stays pressed against him the whole meal. It helps him relax and begin to enjoy the feeling of having a full pack again. There is still a lot to figure out but this is the beginning, not the end. They may all be teenagers in the room but the strength he gains from them doesn’t care about age. He meets his mate’s gaze and grins again. He is an alpha now and mated to his spark. Deucalion won’t stand a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments! I appreciate so much how well this story has been received. :)


	10. in Which Stiles Teaches Some Lessons

Seeing the old warehouse explode had to be on the top ten of the most satisfying things Stiles had watched happen. Maybe even top five, he’d have to take off some points for it only killing one alpha though. He looked over at Peter and matched his mate’s vicious grin with his own. Finally, they were getting somewhere. 

Luring Ennis into the abandoned warehouse on the edge of town had been easier than either of them had anticipated. It seemed that the entire alpha pack was in a bit of a tizzy after hearing Peter’s victory howl Friday night. It had only taken ten hours, after Stiles left his scent around town leading to the warehouse, for Ennis to show up. One tape recording of a fake heartbeat mixed with a spell that left his scent there and the alpha had walked straight into their trap. The explosion was probably a little bit overkill but neither him or Peter were taking any chances. 

Peter had to drag him away and into the forest so they could walk to where they had left the car. Both of them were wearing the bracelets to hide themselves that Stiles had made but they still tried to be as silent as possible. No reason to get overconfident. Stiles took a moment to feel pleased at how much better he was at sneaking after the three months of lessons with Peter. They made their way back to the house with no issues and as soon as they got in Stiles turned his full attention to divesting Peter of all his clothes. 

“Why, sweetheart, one might almost think murdering someone got you all excited.” Peter murmured in his ear while thrusting into him with barely any prep. Stiles couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that before he was coming so hard he nearly blacked out. 

After a quick shower, Stiles turned back his attention to their map of Beacon Hills and all the possible places they thought the alpha pack could be using to hide out. His dad was keeping an eye out as well for any sightings along with a few of the deputies. Munching on a bowl of cereal, he leaned into Peter as the alpha sidled up next to him. 

“Deucalion will probably advocate laying low until he has a better idea of what happened. Kali, however, is likely to get more reckless. She might even try to attack us in public.” Peter said, staring at the various markings Stiles had put on the map. 

“That could be bad, especially if she is losing control.” 

“I agree, an alpha like her without control is only more dangerous.” 

“Think Argent would lend us a rifle?” Peter made a scoffing noise. He turned and looked at the man with a frown. “I’m serious, Peter.” 

Peter stopped laughing and gave him a hard look. “Surely not, pet.” 

“Hey, maybe we could even get Argent to take the shot for us. That way my dad doesn’t even have to worry about looking the other way.” 

Peter looked like he was about to object before stopping himself and frowned thoughtfully. “The only question is then, how would we motivate him? Scott said they returned to Beacon Hills but has been adamant he is retired from hunting. Even going so far as to refuse to help at all with the alpha pack before this.” 

Stiles shrugged. “Simple, he has to believe Allison is in danger.” 

“And how will we do that?” Peter’s voice had gotten lower and he crowded into Stiles’ space a bit. 

“I’ve technically already started. I left one of a piece of paper with their twisted triskele inside a revenge spiral tucked in Allison’s window wiper on Thursday. On Friday before I left and our psycho English teacher kidnapped me, I scratched another spiral on the inside of her locker. She’ll see that Monday morning and I figure the next step would be doing some sort of scare thing to her. She takes a run through the public trails in the preserve every morning before school. I figured we could do that Tuesday. If that all isn’t enough to get Chris out hunting again I guess he’s not as good of a father as he thinks he is.” 

He was so distracted by his plans and checking out the trailheads he was startled by Peter who yanked him into a deep kiss. By the time Peter pulled back he was gasping for air. “You,” Peter practically growled the words, “are just too perfect for me. I’ve been underestimating you again darling. I need to really stop doing that.” 

“It was more of a back up pl -- oh fuck!” Peter abruptly spun him around and ripped his pants off and was thrusting into his loose hole. His head was shoved down on the table with a hand on his neck while another arm gripped his hip tightly. Gasping, he spread his legs wider and let his body go limp even as his cock got harder. 

“Look at you.” Peter snarled. “My perfect mate. All mine. Mine to take and use.” 

Stiles moaned as every thrust of Peter’s cock dragged over his prostate and made him see stars. He loved it when Peter took him like this. It had happened often over the summer to the point that Peter didn’t even have to ask anymore. Stiles distantly knew he was babbling things to Peter but was so lost in the haze of pleasure he wasn’t sure what he was saying. He felt the sharp drag that was the alpha’s knot forming and he shouted as he came suddenly. Peter bit down on his neck with blunt human teeth and locked his cock inside Stiles. 

The two of them just laid on the table, both blissed out as Peter kept coming, crooning to him the whole time. “My good, beautiful, perfect mate, you’re so good to me sweetheart, so good for me…” Every once in a while Peter would rock his hips and send another zing of pleasure through Stiles. He felt himself slowly get hard again and Peter growled into his neck, reaching around to start pumping his cock. “That’s it, come on my darling, come for me again.” He let out a hiccuped cry as everything worked up to the perfect place of pain and pleasure mixed together. 

He was barely aware of Peter working him through his second orgasm until the alpha hefted him up and just managed to flop them both down on the couch. They lay there for a while, Peter’s knot slowly coming down as Stiles just floated in the warmth. Eventually, the knot came out and he let out an embarrassing whine at the feeling of emptiness that came over him. His head did feel clearer so it only took a little prompting for him to get up and stagger back into the bathroom. Peter followed him, smirking while watching Stiles try to walk straight. 

“You know I have to go to school tomorrow and potentially run away from the psycho alpha twins?” He half grumbled, not really meaning the complaint. But holy shit, he was sore. 

Peter just kissed him gently and drew some of the pain away. “Just have one of our new pack members pull your pain everytime it gets too much.” 

“Yeah, that’s a great way to make use of our new pack. Like oh hey, take my pain because Peter knotted me so hard I can’t walk straight.” 

Peter smiled even wider. “But darling, just think of the appalled look on Scott and Isaac’s faces.” 

He hummed thoughtfully to himself as he finished brushing his teeth and then staggered into the bedroom to crawl under the covers. “You make a good point. You do realize I’ll have to explain it to Erica then? And she’ll probably try to ask you about it in the middle of a pack meeting?” 

“Sweetheart, I look forward to it.” 

“Aaaand the Creeperwolf makes a return.” 

Peter retaliated to this by licking up the back of his neck and biting his ear. A brief tickle war followed until Stiles collapsed and said, “I give up, I surrender. Ow…” 

The next morning when he got to school he found himself twitching at every shadow. Apparently killing an alpha werewolf who was a member of an entire pack of alpha werewolves made him paranoid. He wished he didn’t have to have such personal knowledge of this. He actually jumped and yelped when Jackson appeared at his locker. 

“What the fuck, Stilinski?” 

“Shut it.” He said, hunching his shoulders and pushing his way into the classroom. 

The talk of the school was the warehouse explosion from the day before. No reports had made it out yet of finding a body inside so he was able to avoid any suspicion from the pack. He and Peter had decided to not include the pack in their plans for the moment. The only potential exception to this was Jackson but Peter wanted to see if the beta could figure it out for himself.

The twins were nowhere to be seen for the first half of the day and Stiles began to relax a little by lunch. The real shock of the day was when Scott sat down at the table with his tray of food. When everyone stopped and stared at the boy, Scott bristled slightly and said, “What?” 

Erica scowled at the teen. “Since when are we cool enough for you to grace us with your presence?” 

Scott glared at her. “You’re my pack now and I want to talk to Stiles.” 

“The new big bad alpha might have accepted you into his pack but that doesn’t mean you’re my packmate.” 

“Woah guys --” Stiles tried to jump in but Scott ignored him to lash out. 

“Since when do you get to decide things like that? Pack doesn’t work that way. Derek must have done an even worse job than we thought he did.” 

“Like you’ve ever been in a real pack McCall. Go and slink back to your little hunter bitch like the last time you betrayed us and your ‘best friend’ got the shit beaten out of him by the bitch’s grandfather.” 

Boyd thankfully flew up to grip Scott around the waist as the teen tried to throw himself across the table at Erica. Stiles hastily finished the rune he’d started as soon as it became clear that neither Erica or Scott were going to calm down. Pricking his finger to get a little blood on it, he slammed his hand down on the table and everything froze around them. Leaving them in their own little bubble. The shock of the magic spiraling out from him was enough to get both the teen wolves to pull back their shift. Everyone at the table stared at him, eyes wide. Feeling furious, he started speaking. 

“That is enough. I am completely ashamed of both of you. Inner pack disagreement needs to be kept to the pack only. It is not to be aired in public spaces. How dare you let this be the reason you potentially reveal us to the public. This is a day when everyone records everything. Scott, once I end this spell, leave the table. You will go outside and calm the fuck down. Isaac and Jackson, please go with him to make sure he maintains control. After school we will all immediately leave and go to Peter’s where we will put an end to this hostility. You all agreed to be a part of this pack and that means that in public we will present an united front.” 

Nobody made a noise when he had finished speaking. All the wolves were looking away from him with their necks slightly bared and breathing heavily. Lydia gave him a small nod of approval. Predictably, it was Scott who broke the silence. 

“Uh, so, we have practic--” 

“I said immediately after school. Skip practice. Pack comes before anything.” He met Scott’s blazing yellow glare solidly until Scott whined and looked away again. “Scott, will you do this?”   
Scott nodded, still glaring at the table. He looked around the table, “Anyone else have objections?” When no one answered he nodded once and ended the spell. Immediately things started moving around them again and Scott practically raced out of the lunch room. Isaac and Jackson more sedately followed. 

When he saw Erica’s now dejected and huddled form, he winced and moved down the table to wrap her in a bug. “I’m sorry Catwoman. I didn’t mean to go that hard. You have a very valid point. Peter is just trying to not let any omega wolves wander around Beacon Hills because when an alpha can’t control all the wolves living in his territory other packs and hunters think the pack is fractured and it draws more trouble. I agree, Scott needs to grow up and see what he did before was wrong. I promise we’ll work something out so you can feel comfortable.” 

Erica melted into him. “Thanks batman. I’m sorry for overreacting.” 

“You don’t really have anything to apologize for. If you guys weren’t all freaking werewolves who are still learning control this wouldn’t be an issue.” 

The rest of lunch passed in a rather subdued manner. As they got up to leave, he made sure to hug Boyd and Lydia. When he saw Jackson and Isaac in his next class he dramatically hugged them and then kissed their cheeks. It seemed to break the more somber mood as Jackson screeched and shoved him off while Isaac obviously wiped his cheek off with a disgusted look. He wasn’t worried though, he could feel both of their contentedness within the pack bonds. 

He didn’t see Scott for the rest of the day which worried him somewhat. He had texted Peter about it all at lunch and sent an update about Scott after a couple classes of not seeing the other teen. Jackson and Isaac confirmed that Scott had seemingly calmed down and had walked back into the school with them so they assumed it was fine. Stiles really hoped his former best friend wasn’t about to do something really stupid. 

He was just about to walk into his last class of the day when Miss Morell stopped him in the hall and asked to see him in her office. Waving Erica into the classroom without him he followed the guidance counselor back through the school. He paused as he walked through the threshold of her office. The faint tingle of wards drifted over him and he froze, glaring at her. 

She smiled serenely at him. “Stiles?” 

“Yeah, no, don’t play the innocent act with me lady. I already got in trouble for not doing something about that last week.” 

She sighed and sat down behind her desk. “You think if I had nefarious intentions I wouldn’t have had plenty of opportunities over the past years to do something about them?” 

He just kept glaring. “You could have also said something to us when we were running around being chased by a feral alpha or when Gerard Argent was terrorizing innocent teenagers.” 

She met his furious gaze with cool eyes. “It was not my place.” 

“Bullshit. You just didn’t care. Now, who are you really and what do you want with me?” 

“Please sit down, this might take a while.” 

“Nope. Intentions first. Oh, and a promise of no harm intended for me or my pack.” He would not back down from this and she was a moron if she thought she could force him to. He had not gone through the past nine months of hell and learned nothing. 

“I am a druid, a peacemaker and an emissary. I mean you and yours no harm. No harm will come to you by my hand or by my doing while you are in this office or meeting with me to negotiate peace.” 

He stood for a moment longer, working through her words in his mind before nodding and coming the rest of the way into the room. He sat down in one of the chairs, forcing his body to relax and sprawl out. Her lips thinned slightly but she didn’t say anything about it. 

“Ok, so talk then. Who are you emissary for?” 

She leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her. “Twenty years ago I met a young, newly made alpha who had an amazing vision of bringing peace in our world. I was your age and had been brought up with the ideals of peace and balance so I met this alpha and was immediately drawn to him. He asked me to be his emissary and I was honored that out of all the possible choices that he chose me.” 

She paused, looking out through the window of her office. She seemed lost in a memory for a moment and Stiles waited, fingers tapping impatiently on the arm of his chair. He had no intention of being drawn in by a story. He wasn’t sure he could ever forgive finding out that another person had known about all of this and had done nothing to help. How differently could things have gone if she had told them what she knew? Even just the information she must know about werewolves and packs could have been invaluable. He dragged his attention back on her as she started speaking again. 

“What was truly amazing was that this man lived up to all his words and promises. He built a pack based on peace and balance and it was beautiful. Then seven years ago Gerard Argent came to the area and wanted to talk about peace between hunters and werewolves. We were all so giddy. Everything we had worked for and wanted could come true. There were several packs that came together to discuss the proposed treaty and details about it. It was…” 

She trailed off again, slowly turning to look him in the eyes again. “It was amazing. Five packs working together, towards peace and --” 

“Balance,” Stiles interrupted her, his voice dry, “so you’ve said. But they weren’t all in agreement, were they? You’re leaving something out, Miss Morell. Talia Hale didn’t trust the honeyed fake words of the psychopath hunter, did she? She warned you all but you didn’t listen. Three of the alphas went anyways. Let me guess, you’re Deucalion’s emissary. You don’t look like Ennis’ type.” 

She had stiffened. He smiled to finally get a reaction out of her other than calmness. Her voice was still steady when she spoke again. “I see Peter has told you about this. I wasn’t sure how much he knew.” 

“He knew enough. He knew Talia didn’t trust Gerard and that she talked one of the alphas to her side. That was the first pack Deucalion slaughtered right? He sure does sound like a man of peace to me.” 

She was starting to look angry now. He felt satisfaction curl its way through him. “You know so little to speak with such boldness. You cannot possibly know the pain of losing a pack the way those three did that day. Then the pain of betrayal as Deucalion’s second went to kill him. He was lost in his grief for a long time much like Peter was when all this began here. You’ve forgiven Peter, have you not? Yet you sit here, prepared to judge me? Little boy who runs with wolves thinking you know so much. You’ve barely scratched the surface of this world.” 

He sat up and leaned forward. “I’m not even going to bother trying to argue with you. You know as well as I do that Peter only killed those who had harmed him. Deucalion has killed hundreds of innocents. One sob story about one person’s pain is not going to change my mind. Also, stooping to insults? How very beneath you Emissary Morell. Tell your alpha that he has until midnight tonight to leave Beacon County completely. If he’s still here by morning then we will assume he still intends on wiping our pack out and react accordingly.” 

He got up and moved to leave the room. Stopping to turn back at the sound of her voice again. “Those are bold words for one so young, Mr. Stilinski. You may live to regret being so prideful to not even listen to my proposal of peace.” 

Letting his spark thrum up and through him, he looked at her again, knowing that his eyes were turning a dark gold. “You do know you are nothing to him now? Do you know what he intends to do with me? He wants to kill all the Hales, keep the rest of the pack as his slaves and me as his slave mate. He told Derek he’d rape me and make him watch. The only thing I regret right now is that I can’t kill him right now. Oh, and it’s Emissary Stilinski to you.” 

Ignoring her darkening face, he strode out of her office and towards the front of the school. He walked outside, clenching and unclenching his hands. Everything in him was on high alert. He felt someone approached and spun around as he called electricity to his hand. He froze in place, Scott was standing there, looking at him wide eyed. Sighing, he put his hand down and let the electricity fade back into the air. 

“What?” 

“Uh, I heard what you said to Miss. Morell…” Scott stopped and looked down at the ground. 

“Is that all you heard?” Stiles said, feeling a deep irritation. 

Scott winced and looked back at him. “No...I heard what she said. I...um, did Deucalion really threaten to do that to you?” 

Stiles groaned slightly and then slumped over to a nearby picnic table. Scott followed and hesitantly sat down across from him. “Yes. He actually said it a lot worse than that but yes, that was the gist of it.” 

Scott shifted uncomfortably before he blurted out in one big rush. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, I’ve been a really terrible friend and I’m so sorry. I...I went to Deaton, after hearing the howl and he...he told me to go to Peter and promise to be in the pack to find out what was going on. I was so worried about you with Peter. I thought he had brainwashed you or something and Deaton said he probably hurt you and forced you...I should have known better. I should have trusted you. I just got so caught up in Allison that I...I’m sorry. When Peter accepted me and I felt the pack bond it was so...so good and I didn’t know what to think. Deaton was still telling me to be careful and when I called him after lunch he told me to go talk to Miss Morell. I thought I was helping but I wasn’t. I don’t want you to get hurt.” 

After finishing the rant, Scott hunched up and looked miserable. Stiles just blinked at him, trying to process everything that had just been said. “Woah, um, woah. I don’t really know what to do with all of that but if you really mean that you are sorry and don’t want to get hurt then you need to truly pick a side here Scott. No more jumping back and forth based on whatever emotion you feel in the moment. My side equals Peter. You’ll come back home with me here and then you’ll tell the whole pack everything you told me plus everything else Deaton has ever said to you. Then I’m going to ask you to make some oaths of loyalty. If you really want to fix things that is where we will start. But everyone has the right to be angry at you and if they never forgive you that’s up to them.” 

Scott looked like he was about to object but then closed his mouth and curled up even more. Stiles sighed and shot off a quick text to the pack group chat (not including Scott) the update. He told everyone to avoid Miss Morell at all costs and it was even more important to go directly to Peter’s. He let them know that Scott was with him and they were leaving now. Scott followed him to the jeep, looking like a kicked puppy. Stiles refused to be sorry for the other teen. He was furious that Scott had lied again about being part of a pack. Part of him didn’t want to even bring Scott anywhere. The only thing stopping him from kicking Scott to the curb right then was knowing that if he did, it would basically be signing Scott’s death warrant. There was no way Deucalion would let Scott live. As angry as he was, he wasn’t ready to let his former best friend die. He had too many memories of when it was just him and Scott and how Scott’s steady friendship had saved him from getting stuck in a very dark place more than once. 

The drive to Peter’s was done in silence. Scott leaned up against the door and just exuded misery. Stiles felt so done with Scott at this point he couldn’t muster up energy to care. Scott moved toward the house after getting out of the car but Stiles veered him off and towards the back patio. Still looking like a kicked puppy, Scott followed and only gave him one hesitant look before stepping into the center of a ring of different colored stones inlaid into the normal patio stones. Putting them in place had been one of the first things he and Peter had done when they moved in, just for times like this. All Stiles had to do was hover his hand over them and clench his fist for the mountainash that had been seeped into the ground underneath spread out to lock Scott in the circle. 

Scott gave a startled cry and lunged forward only to spring back upon hitting the barrier. “What the hell Stiles?!” 

Stiles looked away. He hated this so much but at the same time he loved what he had with Peter. He felt more accepted and cared for than he had felt since his mom died. Struggling a bit to get the words out, he looked back at Scott and said, “I don’t -- I can’t trust you anymore Scott.” 

Scott looked like Stiles had hit him. “But...I told you about Deaton...just now. I came to you and told you…” 

Stiles shook his head. “But you didn’t tell me about your plan for Gerard. You didn’t tell me when Victoria almost killed you, letting me think it was intentional that Derek bit her. You hung up on me when I was in the pool that night. You...you didn’t notice after I went missing what happened to me. You went back to Allison. Allison who -- she was there Scott. She was in the house when Gerard’s men dragged me through it and tossed me down the stairs. She knew I was down there and she was the one who fucking caught Erica and Boyd. She shot arrows at Isaac for fucks sake!” 

Scott seemed to shrink further and further into himself with every word Stiles said. He was full out whining by the time Stiles finished. Raking a hand through his hair, Stiles slumped down to sit on the ground. “So...I can’t trust you...and I hate that. I hate it so much. Yes, you told me about Deaton but only after you heard what Morell and I talked about. You didn’t trust me. You didn’t trust me when I told you Gerard was bad news, when Matt was bad news or when I came back with Peter and told you he’d changed. You shouldn’t have needed to hear any of that to just trust me.” 

Realizing he was crying, he looked up and met Scott’s eyes. His former best friend looked devastated and was kneeling on the ground to be the same height at him. “Stiles...I...I’m so sorry...I don’t know what to do...please tell me what to do to make it right.” 

Stiles shrugged and wiped at his eyes. “I don’t know what you can do other than just don’t ever do it again. Prove it to me, prove you want to fix this by trusting me and telling me everything. No more secret plans, no more secret meetings...just...it won’t just be ok. It’ll take time and I can’t promise when I will trust you again.” 

Scott nodded shakily. The beta wolf was starting to cry too and they just sat there in silence while Peter and the rest of the pack trickled in. Once the whole pack was there, Stiles took a deep breath and stood up. Leaning into Peter he whispered the words to activate other runes on the stones once they had lit up he spoke for the whole pack to hear. 

“I got this idea from Harry Potter but instead of a potion they are runes to tell us when someone is being dishonest. It can’t actually make Scott tell us something he doesn’t want to know but it heavily encourages him to speak the truth when we ask direct questions. If someone else could start that’d be good…” 

Peter wrapped an arm around his waist and said, “I understand there are a lot of genuine grievances this pack has with one another. This is the time to air them. Maybe some forgiveness is found tonight but maybe not. Whatever the outcome if you want to remain in this pack you will not let these issues affect our unity in facing outside threats. We have no time or leeway to let things fester under the surface. Let’s get it all out tonight.” 

They all pulled up patio chairs and started talking. The time stretched long, only taking brief breaks to eat food, use the bathroom or get drinks. Erica vented her spleen all over Scott. Lydia laid into Erica and Isaac for following Derek in chasing after her when they thought she was the kanima. Jackson finally let out all his anger over the kanima incident and why no one would just talk to him. In return Stiles was able to have it out with Jackson about everything. 

They also spent a lot of time interrogating Scott and slowly pulling out everything Deaton had told the beta since he had been bitten. It was a lot more than Stiles had thought. It made him kind of sick too, hearing how Deaton had started right away in turning Scott away from trusting Stiles and turning the boy against Peter then Derek. Scott finally seemed to realize just how much he had been manipulated and ended up a sobbing mess by the end of everything. Stiles stumbled over near the end and wrapped himself around Scott. The two of them cried together for all the pain that had happened. 

The betas and Lydia also turned to Peter and asked him merciless questions about the first time he was an alpha and how that was different now. Stiles had never seen Peter so honest with this many people and was a little stunned by it. He knew Peter was committed to building a pack but he hadn’t realized how committed Peter was to making this pack work. He already knew everything Peter was telling them so he mostly concentrated on stepping in when it made sense for him to answer something or push them away from something too personal or sensitive. 

By the time it was nearing midnight they were all an exhausted mess. Stiles let Scott out of the circle and Peter herded everyone inside and into the various guest rooms. Stiles crawled in next to Peter and held the alpha until they both fell asleep. 

Waking up the next morning at 4:30am was brutal but necessary. They both slipped on their bracelets and snuck out of the house without anyone the wiser. Peter had a car at the far edge of his property so they could use it and no one in the house would know they had gone anywhere. They needed no one else to know about this part of the plan because if it got slipped to Chris then it would all be for nothing. They also didn’t trust anyone except Lydia to be sneaky enough to pull off something like this and she still had conflicted feelings when it came to Allison. 

It was still dark out when Peter pulled the car over to the side of the road. Stiles headed out through the trees to wait in the spot Peter had scouted the day before and Peter slipped into his wolf form. He paused for a moment to just breathe in the stillness of the forest and grinned. It felt good to go on a hunt with his mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to my husband for helping me get past writer block even though he won't read my stories (doesn't like teen wolf lol). I was moaning that I didn't know how to get start my next chapter and he was like, "Make something explode and then someone dies." and I was like ok. Then I flipped a coin and Ennis was the unlucky one who got to die an ignoble death by explosion. 
> 
> I have the next chapter started so hopefully it will get here sooner than this one did. :)


	11. In Which Peter Has Some Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for threatened rape. Nothing remotely close to actually rape happens.

Going to hunt an Argent with his mate was making Peter almost giddy. He slipped into wolf form eagerly and trotted towards the right place. His only regret was that he couldn’t go the whole way today in regards to Allison. Now that Erica and Boyd were his pack, his rage was burning more that Allison had been a part of hurting them. But, they wanted Argent furious enough to go after the alpha pack, they didn’t want him so broken he couldn’t move. Peter was pretty sure Allison’s death would break the man beyond recovery. It was something he was still considering but not yet. His pack needed to be as strong and as stable as possible. Killing the huntress, while satisfying, would upset that stability. For all of Erica’s bravado he knew that when it came to cold blooded killing she would balk at it. 

He felt Stiles head for the location he had marked out the day before as he loped to the first rune of Stiles’ he had set up. Stiles would be able to activate these from a distance while Peter had his fun being the monster in the shadows. He got there just in time as Allison came into view mere minutes after he arrived. He waited until she had passed the rune and let out a sharp bark. He felt the tingle as Stiles activated the magic. It would keep others from choosing this path so Allison would be isolated. 

He waited for the rest of the runes to be activated as he easily kept up with the girl. She was running with headphones which made him want to kill her just for being an idiot. How arrogant or stupid did you have to be to have received two threats from a werewolf pack and still go running alone with headphones in? She ran for about ten more minutes before she flinched away from a rock and came to an abrupt halt. She wrenched out the ear buds and pulled out a taser and looked around. Good, the runes were working. 

Stiles had carefully crafted them to increase the fear response in someone. It couldn’t make them feel fear but it would push at the person’s senses, making everything seem darker or louder than usual. The morning mist along the ground was also being encouraged by the runes to build up thicker than normal so when Peter let out a low growl and advanced, eyes bright red, all she could see was a vague shape in the mist. Allison squeezed the trigger on the taser but he was still too far away and the ends hit the ground, useless. Shifting up into human, he leapt at her from the darkness. She screamed and kicked out but he rolled to the side and vanished. 

Turning, she spun around and sprinted back the way she came. He snarled and leapt at her one more time, letting his claws grazed against the back of her arm. She lashed out with the taser again. He let out a yelp as if it had connected and faded back into the forest. He waited there until he could no longer hear her terrified heartbeat before heading back to Stiles. His mate was half dozing when he arrived, falling against a tree. He flung the boy over his shoulder and started jogging back to the car. Stiles woke up with a yelp, flailed for a moment before letting out a stream of grumblings about stupid alpha wolves and how they thought they could just manhandle him whenever they wanted to. 

When they reached the car, he thought briefly about bending Stiles over the hood and taking him right there but before he could act on this his mate sent a slight electric shock through him. Looking over at the boy, who had wriggled away and was jumping in the driver’s seat, he growled. Stiles rolled his eyes. “Yeah, no alphawolf, we gotta get back before the pack wakes up and I want to shower before school. So hop in. If we get back soon enough I’ll blow you in the shower. You can fuck me again tonight if you still want to.” Acknowledging the truth of this did nothing to make him happier about it. But he complied and got in the car. 

He did get to get off by fucking into Stiles’ mouth when they got back to the house, which was almost as good as his other plans had been. He felt very content by the time the rest of the pack was awake and scrounging for breakfast in the large kitchen. Stiles came just as everyone was arguing over who got what food in the kitchen. He couldn’t decide if he should get more food so they didn’t fight or if it was more enjoyable to watch them scrabble for pack order in who got what breakfast. 

“All right, what the hell guys, it’s way too early for this shit…” Stiles said, coming into the kitchen and glaring at everyone. “What’s up with all of you?” 

Peter smirked from where he was leaning against the counter, out of the way of the fight. “It’s a new pack darling, they are all just trying to get their positions settled. In wild wolf packs it comes out in who eats first so it makes sense our cubs would be fighting over breakfast food.” 

Lydia, who had already claimed her yoghurt then moved out of the way of the bicker, said, “Well, just because they are part wolf doesn’t mean they have to act like real ones. Play rock, paper, scissors or something, like civilized people.” 

“Lizard, Spock!” Stiles cheered from the corner where he was making his coffee monstrosity. Everyone looked at him blankly, except Erica, who giggled. 

Jackson rolled his eyes and took the momentary pause to still the pack of bacon out of Scott’s hands. “Move, McCall. I’ll make the bacon if someone else gets the eggs going.” 

“I can make eggs.” Isaac said, almost shyly as he moved to open the fridge and pull out eggs. 

Boyd moved to pull out all the fruit and start washing and chipping it while Erica pulled out the bread. Soon everyone was working well together at getting breakfast ready. Peter felt a little curl of warmth inside him. He also internally sighed, fine, he would go shopping today and get more food that the whole pack could eat together. 

Soon, they all had to head out which left him on his own for the day. His first order of business was to try and track down Derek. Erica and Boyd had tried to find his wayward nephew on Sunday but after a thorough walk through Beacon Hills there had been no recent scent of the former alpha. Peter was pretty sure Derek had just taken off completely but he knew he needed to check. 

He started at the loft but the scents there were a couple days old. He did a careful drive through town with the windows down but no scents came through. He knew the next step would be a wider search through the less populated areas but didn’t feel like wasting his time today so gave up the search and went to the grocery store. He was in the process of selecting pineapples when a familiar scent tickled at the edges of his awareness. Looking over his shoulder he smirked at the scowling face of Chris Argent. 

He idly continued his shopping enjoying the building tension that the hunter (or perhaps ex-hunter?) was giving off. He finally checked out and moseyed his way to the SUV. Argent was fairly close behind him so he wasn’t surprised to come back after putting his cart away to see Argent leaning against the SUV with crossed arms. 

“Christopher.” 

“Peter. We need to talk.” 

“Of course, I’m always happy to have a lovely sit down chat with a member of the family that burned mine to the ground.” His smile got wider as he heard Argent’s teeth grind together. 

“Will you talk or not?” 

“Fine. You can follow me home.” He got into the SUV and started driving, not giving the hunter any time to object. He wanted home field advantage for this meet and greet. He also didn’t trust Argent to not have some plan to ambush him. 

Argent stayed silent until they were both in the house’s kitchen and Peter had poured himself a drink. “Want one?” He threw out the offer with a challenging smirk. 

“No.” 

He let the silence grow far past the point of comfortability. He just sipped his drink slowly and took in the multiple ways Argent was radiating discomfort and anger. Finally, he sighed, rolled his eyes and set his drink down with a clink. “Christopher, may I remind you that you are the one who asked for this little meeting? You know I can certainly fill the void with words darling, but I doubt that’s what you’re here for.” 

“A wolf has been stalking Allison.” 

He raised his eyebrows and took another drink. “Fascinating. Have you put a tracker yet on McCall? I do remember him having some rather unhealthy relationship tendencies.” 

“It’s not Scott.” The glare his way got somehow more intense. Peter had thought only his nephew was capable of this type of deep glaring. He was almost impressed. 

“Why come to me and not our resident alpha?” He asked casually, hoping to discover how much Argent was aware of. It would also be good to know how much information Scott was passing on. He still didn’t trust the boy and was only tolerating the little puppy at the moment for Stiles’ sake. 

The hunter snorted. “Like you don’t know Derek is missing or that a new howl was heard in the preserve Friday night. Look, Hale, Peter…” The man paused for a moment, obviously struggling with the next words. Peter was delighted, he hadn’t been so entertained by a hunter in a very long time. 

“Allison is all I have left. Every choice I have ever made since she was born was to keep her safe. I fought my wife, sister and father to keep her in the dark about all of this to keep her from becoming Kate. I have...I need to know what you want, if it’s you that’s after her.” 

Peter was surprised and he let it show on his face. He had not been expecting this. “No, I’m not after her, not right now. How she behaves towards my pack might change that in the future but for the moment she is safe from me. You do remember that the Argent family has wronged other alpha werewolves that are also in Beacon Hills at this time.” 

Argent winced and looked away. “You mean Deucalion...his pack symbol was on the note but I hoped it was you, scaring her.” 

Peter scoffed. “As if I would stoop to such lowly tricks. Please Christopher.” 

“Do you know where they are?” 

“I do not. I haven’t heard from Stiles today so my guess is that twins are still skipping school. And for the other two..” He shrugged and waited for Argent to catch on. He didn’t have to wait long before the hunter stiffened. 

“Two? What did you do?” 

Peter just smiled and flashed red eyes. “Ennis is dead.” 

“Fuck. Two alphas? What about --” 

He waved his hand dismissively. “Derek and I have an understanding. Nothing for you to concern yourself with. Now, let’s talk about the four alphas we have left in Beacon Hills that I think we can both agree shouldn’t be here much longer.” 

Running a hand over his face, Argent gave a weary nod. Peter grinned. Excellent, another ally who wouldn’t shy away from killing to get the job done. He also made note to do something special for Stiles later. His mate was really quite clever and he deserved a reward for bringing this plan to completion so well. He directed the hunter over to the maps Stiles had put up on the walls. He ran Argent through the potential alpha hiding spots and made sure the man had his number before leaving. 

Once Argent was gone he focused on the various projects he and Stiles had going on in their study or as Stiles had taken to calling it, the secret lair. It was mainly where they kept any books or supplies too rare or important for others to see. It was also where Stiles had several potions brewing in crockpots. Peter checked them all before pulling out a book on druid magics to read. It was the first time he’d had a chance to sit down and start to think about what Stiles needed to learn to defeat other magic users. He never wanted a situation like Friday night to happen again. He read through to the afternoon, only pausing to get food for lunch. It was nearing when school was supposed to be let out when his phone buzzed, signaling a call coming in. 

“Scott, to what do I owe this pleasure?” 

“You need to get here right away! They took Erica!” 

“Who took Erica and where is here?” He growled out as he stood up and started moving through the house. 

“The twins and I’m at the school. Hurry!” 

“Where’s Stiles?” 

“He went after them with Boyd and Isaac. His phone broke and told me to call you, we have to hurry!” 

Peter was already up and shedding clothes to get ready to shift. “Get Jackson and catch up to them. I want you all to stay together in case Deucalion and Kali are nearby. What direction are they headed in?” 

“Uh, I don’t know. Away from school…” 

Peter closed his growls and let out a deep rumble. “Which way away from school?” 

“Northwest, away from the lacrosse field.” Lydia’s crisp voice interrupted Scott’s mumbles. 

“I’ll head at them from the other direction.” 

He hung up and decided to forego the vehicle. He shifted into wolf form and bolted out of the house. The straightest path would be through town so he had to take a slight loop to go through the less populated areas to hopefully avoid being seen. He soon felt Stiles on the edge of his awareness and slowed his pace a little in order to make sure he didn’t miss anyone else’s presence. There was no sign of Deucalion or Kali though by the time he heard Erica’s furious shouting. 

The two alphas had paused in a clearing and were now enjoying baiting the young woman. By the looks of it, her leg was broken, and they were circling her and growling and then laughing as she would flinch away from them. Anytime she tried to dash her way out of the circle they had set up, one of them would throw her back to the ground. Peter could smell the acid scent of her fear and he felt a surge of protective rage go through him. He didn’t sense any of the rest of the pack close by so the twins must have used something to hide their scents. 

He crept closer, they were both so sure of themselves that they didn’t notice his approach. His lips curled back in a silent snarl. They would regret this. He gave a tug on the bond with Stiles and felt his mate narrow in on him. Good, the rest of the pack would be here soon. He almost waited until they arrived but Erica made another surge upward to get away and this time the twin that clawed her made a lewd suggestion of what to do to her next. 

The closest twin to Peter died much faster than he would have wished but not in a way he especially regretted. His jaws clamped down over the neck of the young alpha as his claws dug viscously into the muscled back. As they fell, he twisted his body off the alpha so the head snapped sideways while his teeth tore the corroded artery. The twin was dead almost instantly and all it took was a tug to finish the job at removing the head from the body. 

The other twin howled in rage and leapt towards him. Peter easily dodged the blow and sunk his teeth and tore at the unprotected flesh of the belly. Down the alpha went to the forest floor. Blood was spurting everywhere and he felt nothing but glee at the pained roar the twin gave. He shifted back into human and shoved a clawed hand into the belly and wrenched at the organs he found. There was another scream of pain and it sounded oh so good to his ears. 

He could hear the rest of the pack approaching quickly and he knew he couldn’t continue this very much longer. They weren’t all ready to see something like this. He looked up and met Erica’s eyes. She was trembling but had a stone cold look on her face as she stared at the dying wolf in front of her. 

“Do you want to do the honors?” He asked. Her eyes flew to his but there was no hesitation as she pulled herself forward to kneel next to the twin. Her eyes were bright gold as she unsheathed her claws and placed a trembling hand around the alpha’s throat. Here, she hesitated briefly. He could sense the turmoil inside of her but he needed this to happen now. He couldn’t waste the opportunity that this was. 

“He was going to rape you, Erica.” He kept his voice calm and emotionless. “He was going to cut and tear at you until there was nothing left. He doesn’t deserve your pity or your hesitation. Take back what he took from you, show him that you are not afraid of him. Show him that he didn’t win.” 

Her claws sank and tore at the neck in front of her and she gasped as the power from the alpha flowed into her. For a moment, red eyes stared back at him before instinct took over and she bent her neck in submission to him. Crooning softly, he pulled her away from the dead bodies and cradled her as the sobs started. Laying a gentle clawed hand on the back of her neck he felt something settle within him as the alpha power flowed out of her to him. 

The rest of the pack came crashing into the clearing. He looked up and said, “Boyd, can you sit with Erica for a moment.” The large teen was instantly at the girls side, wrapped arms around her. With a sob she clung to him. 

The rest of the pack was staring at the two dead alphas with various expressions on their faces. Stiles let out a loud “Oh thank the gods!” When he saw the dead alphas and quickly kissed Peter hard before running a hand over Erica’s head and neck. She gave his mate a shaky grin and a quick hug. Jackon’s face was unreadable. Isaac looked over at him and nodded once. Scott just looked horrified.

“What did you do?” 

“I saved a pack member’s life, Scott.” 

“You didn’t have to --” 

“Yes he did.” Erica said, her voice ice as she marched up and glared at Scott. “Yes, he did. They were telling me the whole way how much they were going to enjoy tearing me apart, piece by piece. They have killed so many people and you wanted to do what? Let them go? They were alpha werewolves, they couldn’t go to prison. I’m glad they are dead. In fact, I killed one of them myself and am proud of it.” 

Scott backed away from the snarling girl and shot a look at Stiles who just raised an eyebrow. Peter sent a feeling of approval down the bond to Erica and she looked at him and smiled shyly. Before the teen could say anything else, Peter stepped in. “There wasn’t another way. I’m sorry it had to come to this but there just wasn’t another way. They had hurt her and were planning on hurting her more. I had to act before it got worse.” 

“We can argue morals later.” Stiles said, walking up to lean against him. “Right now we need to get rid of the bodies before someone comes along.” 

No one else argued with them after that and they all got to work helping dispose of the former alphas. Peter made them move quickly as he still didn’t know where Kali or Deucalion were. It was bothering him that the two of them hadn’t been nearby for this stunt. He wouldn’t have thought either of the twins would have made a move on their own. Thankfully, disposal didn’t take long as they stripped both of them and dumped them in a deep ravine several miles further into the forest. This was not a part of the woods that got many hikers as the underbrush was thicker and the mountainous terrain was harder to navigate. 

Once they had finished they headed back to the school together. Lydia had gone home because as she texted Jackson, she didn’t want to take the chance of Deucalion or Kali showing up. Peter approved of this way of thinking and made sure to tell Jackson to relay that to her. The group was quiet when they got close and Peter stopped them all before they got out of the trees. 

“I just wanted to say how well you all did today. Your quick thinking probably saved Erica’s life today. I know this isn’t easy and I do wish you could have all had a better introduction to the supernatural world and what it means to be in a pack than this. I want you all to stay in groups of twos at least but groups of three would be even better. I think you should all go to your homes tonight but please plan for spending Friday night and all day Saturday at my house. I have some training plans to go over with you and also we should do some bonding.” 

After he finished speaking, he briefly scent marked them all and sent them home. Before Scvott could leave he managed to pull the beta to the side for a moment. Scott looked wary but followed him. “Look, Scott, I know this is difficult for you and I apologize that it had to happen like this. I do want you to know I spoke to Argent today about a treaty between us and him. I know you and Allison are not together at the moment but I wanted you to know that on my side there are no objections if the two of you ever begin something again. Of course, you will need to make sure she has truly repented for her actions and you will not flaunt in front of Boyd or Erica.” 

Scott nodded eagerly, all thought of the previous problems gone. “Yeah, I get it. Thank you. That’s good you and Mr. Argent want to work together. That’s really good. I’ll make sure everyone is ok with it if we ever get back together. I promise.” 

Peter squeezed the back of the boy’s neck softly and smiled. “Good. That’s all I ask.” 

He felt extremely pleased with himself as he followed the teens back to the school in wolf form. He jumped into the back of Stiles’ jeep and laid down as his mate drove them home. He had managed to strengthen two pack bonds today. First with Erica, it was not the second strongest next to Stiles. Her trust in him was absolute now. Second, with Scott, it wasn’t as strong as the one with Jackson but Peter knew that good groundwork had been put down today. He hadn’t thought about how the peace with Argent might affect Scott’s perspective of him but he was now even glader that he had done it. 

When they got back to the house, Stiles insisted on hosing him off first which he took in mostly good form. He did make sure to thoroughly shake water all over Stiles though. Laughing, his mate tackled him and they rolled in the grass for a few moments before Peter shifted back to human so he could kiss the laughter off Stiles’ face. Eventually they had to go inside and get dinner ready. After dinner, they were both too tired to do anything so they collapsed on the couch together and cuddled for a while. 

“That was pretty brilliant with Scott, you know.” 

Peter smirked. “I know.” 

“I don’t understand his obsession with her…” 

“The first anchor for a bitten wolf is always a strong draw...it’s why it should be the alpha and not a random other person. The alpha as the anchor makes it the most stable. Making it a girlfriend, especially a teenage girlfriend means that the wolf latches on much stronger than the other person. Unless he really wanted to and worked with me to shift the anchor and loyalty, he will have a very hard time ever letting go of her.” 

“Oh. Well. Shit.” 

Peter sighed and wriggled into Stiles further. “MMmm.” 

“Hey, so I just thought of another thing.” 

“Mmmm?” 

“How did Erica not become an alpha? I think everyone was so in shock at dead bodies they forgot to ask.” 

“She submitted to me right after the kill. It was instinctive because she had already put all her trust on me when she made the kill she automatically gave it up to me.” 

“That’s so cool. I had no idea it could work like that.” 

Peter sat up, feeling a little surprised. “We must have missed that somewhere.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes. “I can’t learn everything at once.” 

Peter leaned back down to claim a kiss. “I know that pet. I just thought I would have wanted to make sure that part was covered.” 

Stiles returned the kiss eagerly and thrusted up a little to lightly rub their clothed cocks together. “Well, now I know. You gonna tell everyone that or wait until they ask?” 

Peter slotted himself between Stiles’ legs and ran teasing fingers over his mate’s sides. Smirking at the slight hitch in breath he nipped at an earlobe. “They can ask if they want to know. I’ll talk to Erica sometime soon about it. It was beautiful, Stiles, the way she was so cold and determined.” 

Stiles bit down on his shoulder, startling a moan out of him. “Hmmm...She seemed pleased with herself.” 

He claimed a deeper kiss, pushing Stiles back down into the couch as he did so. Stiles moaned into his mouth as he slowly pushed the boy’s shirt up, scraping his nails over the skin as he did so. “We are building a strong pack. Just two more threats to go.” 

Stiles was almost panting underneath him now. Pushing down with his thigh he could feel the hard line of the boy’s cock against it. He tweaked a nipple and was rewarded with another loud moan. He kept his kisses gentle as he slowly worked his way down the neck in front of him. Pulling up so he could pull the shirt off, he paused to admire the beautiful boy beneath him. Stiles was trying to thrust up to get friction. “Peter...gods...please…” 

“Not yet, pet.” He placed firm hands on Stiles’ hips and held him down on the couch. Once the boy had stilled, he ran a hand back up the torso and twisted one of the nipples hard before getting off Stiles completely. 

“Peter…” Stiles whined trying to sit up. 

Peter dragged him up and started to unbuckle his mate’s belt. Stiles captured his lips in a kiss and for a few seconds they lost themselves in that. But then Peter got the belt off and pushed Stiles’ pants and briefs down. Before Stiles could start trying to get Peter’s clothes off, he pushed Stiles back down on the couch. Pulling out of the body of lube from the drawer he hiked up his mate by the hips and teasingly ran a finger around his hole. Stiles whined again. “Come on Peter, please.” He flipped Stiles over and began to push a lubed finger gently in and out. Stiles tried to push back into it but Peter held him down with the other hand. 

“Oh no, pretty boy, I want you to be nothing but a begging mess before I fuck you. Beg for me sweetheart. Beg.” 

He took his time, pushing in and out, slow then fast then slow. Letting the tip graze over the prostate every third or fourth time. Eventually he added two fingers and kept up the same rhythm. Stiles trembled underneath him, begging relentlessly. By the time Peter pushed a fourth finger in, his mate was practically sobbing with need. Pulling out, he unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock. Smirking at the moan of want that came out of his boy at the sound of the zipper being pulled down, he lubed up his cock and slowly pushed his way in. 

They both moaned when he bottomed out. He blanketed the pale body in front of him, wrapping an arm around Stiles’ hips to pull him up on his knees. He worked up a steady pace, keeping it slow at first to tease out more moans and whimpers from the shaking body underneath him. 

“Peter...please just fuck me…” 

He grinned, pulling out to flip Stiles back around and slammed back into him. Stiles hooked his legs around Peter’s waist and arched his back up. With a deep growl Peter sped up, jerking Stiles hard and fast as he did so. Stiles came with a loud cry and swore through his release. Peter just hit harder and fast until he came with a shout. He managed to stop his knot from forming and pulled back out. Stiles whined at the loss but soon Peter draped himself back over his mate and held him close. 

Kissing the neck one more time he smiled, content. Pack bonds were forming, two alphas to kill, Argent was being maneuvered into place and his mate smelled absolutely divine. He took in another deep breath and sighed deeply. He did have the presence of mind to get back up and haul them both into the bedroom before curling back up and letting sleep take over. His last thought as he drifted off to sleep was that somehow Stiles’ scent was just a tiny bit different than normal. He frowned slightly, a person’s base scent didn’t just change. Stiles shuffled and turned into him at that moment so he dismissed the thought. It just must have been all the insanity of the last couple days was making him smell things that weren’t there. Taking another breath he smiled, it didn’t matter, he just needed to get some sleep and it would all smell fine in the morning.


	12. In Which Stiles Loses His Temper

When Stiles woke up and realized it was only Wednesday of his second week of senior year he wanted to pitch some sort of fit. But nooo...he had to be a responsible adult so with a deep sigh he heaved himself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom to try and wake himself up with the hottest of hot showers. The shower helped him feel a little more human which meant he was able to stumble through to the kitchen and make himself breakfast without mishap. Peter, the asshole, was pretending to still be asleep. 

Jackson, Lydia and Scott were coming to pick him up for school and arrived just as he finished eating. He wedged himself into the backseat of Lydia’s car still feeling a bit like death. Scott wrinkled his nose. “Dude, you smell weird.” 

“Nice to see you too Scotty.” 

Jackson turned from the front seat. “He smells fine, don’t know what your problem is McCall.” 

“Maybe I just pay more attention to my best friend than you do.” 

“Guys...can we please not do this right now. I feel exhausted and achy and gods, I don’t have the patience to listen to you two bicker the whole way to school.” Stiles said, interrupting the budding argument. He wondered vaguely since he was eighteen now if he could write himself a sick note. 

Lydia huffed slightly from the driver’s seat as she turned onto the main road leading to the school. “He’s right. It’s way too early for this drama. Go back to passive aggressively ignoring each other, please.” 

Thankfully, the two wolves sank into silence at her words. Stiles closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat. He was starting to fervently hope that Chris Argent found Deucalion and Kali first and took care of the problem. It would be really nice for the drama to end for a little while and he could just focus on Peter, magic and pack building. As the morning went on he started to feel a bit better and he was in a fairly decent mood by the time lunch came around. Of course it had to be mildly ruined by Erica. 

“Why do you smell different?” Erica said as she practically face planted on his neck, taking deep sniffs. 

“Aurg! Erica…” He tried to scramble sideways away from her only to bump into Isaac who did the same on his other side. 

“He does smell slightly different…” 

“Guys..what the fuck.” 

“He probably just did something gross with Hale this morning before we picked him up.” Jackson said, forcing his way in between Isaac and Stiles. Isaac growled, low enough that no one not at their table could hear but all the wolves definitely heard. Jackson just sat and gave back a dead faced stare that made Isaac duck his head and look away. Looking smug, Jackson turned his attention to his food, ignoring the stares from the rest of the table. Stiles decided to ignore them all for the moment. He had no idea what they meant by smell different and his attempts to get Scott to explain earlier hadn’t made it any clearer. 

He was halfway through his next class when there was a deep burning pull on his magic. He let out a strangled gasp and almost spasmed out of his chair. There was a rushing in his ears, it was as if his magic was being wrenched from his body. Ignoring the concerned voices around him he focused inward and found the strands that were being tugged on. The house wards. Fear rushed through him. The house wards were being attacked. Not bothering to give any sort of explanation he ran out of the classroom and towards the school exit. He was outside and just remembering that he hadn’t driven to school himself when the strands connecting him to the wards snapped. Everything went black for a moment and all he could feel was the roaring inside him as the backlash from it brought him to his knees. 

Hands roughly pulled him up. “Stiles, shit, Stiles, what’s wrong? What’s happening?” 

He managed to open his eyes and somehow focused enough through the pounding inside him to answer Jackson. “House wards. Peter. Something’s wrong.” 

Jackson nodded and started dragging him towards the parking lot., ignoring his spluttered protests. “I have Lydia’s keys, we’ll take her car.” 

The roaring was starting to lessen now so he was able to get into the passenger seat of Lydia’s car on his own power. Pulling out his phone he tried to call Peter, only to have it go straight to voicemail. He could feel Peter’s rage coursing through the bond which gave him hope that the alpha was all right. They were about halfway there when a sudden spike of pain flared up from Peter then with a pop, nothing. Jackson jerked on the steering wheel and had to slam on the brakes to avoid crashing. The two of them sat in the car panting. Stiles felt like his whole body had turned to lead. 

“No. No. No.” This couldn’t be happening. How could this be happening. He felt slightly numb and like his world might be shattering. 

“The Fuck.” Jackson snarled and blasted back off towards Peter’s. 

The gate to the wall around the house had been broken open, allowing them to race directly through. Pulling up at the house it almost looked normal except that Stiles could feel all the wards fraying around it. The two of them got out of the car and looked around. Jackson’s nostrils were flaring. 

“I smell at least three, maybe four scents here. Definitely Deucalion and Kali. Another woman and...fuck. Deaton.” 

Stiles, who had been staring blankly at the blood spatters around the front yard and dents against the cars parked there, spun back around to look at Jackson. The numbness was slowly being replaced by a deep rage. 

“Deaton. You’re sure?” 

“Fuck yes, I’m sure. Derek had started to work with him this summer and had all of us going over to that stupid clinic to get ‘check ups’.” 

“Can you tell whose blood this all is?” Stiles made himself ask as he walked towards the front door. It hadn’t been broken but it was open slightly. There were no bodies in the yard and he hoped that meant that Deaton had just managed to block the bond and Peter wasn’t dead. He couldn’t think why they would take Peter’s dead body anywhere. Of course, he didn’t know why they would take Peter alive anywhere either but it was the only hope he had at the moment. 

“I smell Peter, Deucalion and Kali in the blood. I don’t think the other woman or Deaton moved from the driveway. The woman’s scent smells familiar too. I just can’t place it.” 

He’d gotten to the front door and pushed it open. The hallway was pristine as usual and there were no signs that anything had gone down inside the house. The two of them still cautiously made their way inside. Jackson led, moving carefully and listening intently as he did. It was soon obvious that no one had come inside even without Jackson confirming it by scent. 

“I don’t get it.” Jackson finally said as they stood in the middle of the main room. 

“I don’t either. I can’t feel Peter but…” 

“If he was dead why wouldn’t they just leave the body? You’d think they would want us to know they killed him to scare us.” 

“Exactly.” 

Jackson tensed, spinning around with his eyes turning bright blue. “A car is pulling up.” 

Looking at each other and not knowing what else they could do, they made their way back outside. It was with relief when they saw the rest of the pack already bursting out of Boyd’s car. They all froze for a minute, taking in the scene around them. Lydia being the exception. She moved intently towards Stiles and grabbed his hand. 

“He’s not dead. I would have felt it.” 

The news made him feel weak with relief. “Oh thank the gods.” 

Erica came up to them, trembling. Her eyes were bright blue as well. “You knew before us. How?” 

“I felt the wards around the house breaking.” She nodded and looked like she was about to say something more when Isaac let out a deep snarl. 

“Morell.” Isaac said, looking up at all of them. “I’d recognize her scent anywhere after all the counseling I had to do with her when my dad died.” 

Stiles nodded, he had guessed that but it was good to have it confirmed. Scott was looking around in deep confusion but moved with the rest of the betas to join the small clump on the grass. 

“I don’t understand. Why is Deaton’s scent here?” 

“I should think that is obvious, McIdiot. He was here to help break Stiles’ wards and subdue Peter.” Jackson glared at Scott while saying this. Scott’s eyes flared up and he glared back. 

“Deaton wouldn’t do that!” 

“Why the fuck would you even think that?” Erica said, practically spitting the words. “He has been working this whole time to poison you against us all. Obviously he hates Peter and wouldn’t want you anywhere near him.” 

Scott was still shaking his head. “But he wouldn’t actually hurt Peter. It means Peter can’t be dead. He’s probably faking working with the others.” 

Stiles couldn’t help but gape a bit at Scott. The rest of the pack was also giving him various looks of disgust or outrage. Stiles was about to respond when all the wolves tensed and looked back down the driveway. Shuffling, they made a bit of a wall between Stiles and Lydia and the oncoming car. 

“It’s Allison!” Scott said, moving happily forward. 

It wasn’t just Allison. Chris Argent was the first to get out of the vehicle, Allison only moments behind her father. All the wolves, except Scott, were growling slightly. Stiles distantly thought if they had fur their hackles would be raised. Chris raised his hands up and approached slowly, stopping a good twenty feet away. 

“I’m not here as an enemy. Allison noticed you all leaving in a rush and called me. I’ve been on the lookout ever since Peter and I talked yesterday about working together so I was close by.” 

Taking a deep breath, Stiles pushed his way through the werewolf wall and stepped towards the two hunters. “Ok, well, I think we should all go inside and discuss this. If Deucalion and the others were planning on attacking us here they would have just waited and taken us out as we came.” 

Argent relaxed slightly and nodded. “I agree. They obviously have a plan and it doesn’t make tactical sense to wait until the entire group is together and could fight together. It’s more likely they either want something from you or are planning to lure you somewhere of their choosing to take you all on.” 

The dread he’d been pushing down came bubbling back up. Ignoring it for the moment he turned and led them all back inside. Bypassing the main room he went into the study where they had set up the large map of Beacon Hills and the preserve. Walking over to one of the whiteboards he had set up he grabbed a marker. 

“Ok. We need to write out everything we know for certain before we speculate. Let’s start with what happened here.” 

He quickly wrote down wards breaking, bond gone, and then the four names of the scents the wolves had picked up, Moving over to another column he put Deculation at the head of it before turning back to the room. “Ok, motivations. What do we know or are pretty sure we know that Deucalion wants?” 

Erica spoke up. “The territory. Pack to rule over.” She paused for a moment, giving him a lingering look before saying the next thing that Stiles was pretty sure was the linchpin of all of this. “You.” 

Argent startled from where he was standing. “What?” 

“I’ll explain in a moment, ok? Let’s get the rest of this down first. Kali next, what does she want?” They didn’t really know about Kali other than causing pain in general and then revenge for Ennis. “Morell next. She wants Deucalion to go back to what he was, to stand for peace, she also feels loyalty for him, she said it’s about balance, whatever the fuck that means.” 

“Deaton talks about balance.” Scott spoke up, looking slightly uncomfortable as everyone turned to look at him again. “He uh, says that is what druids should be for. Balance in the world. Like, nothing is too skewed one way or the other for power. One person shouldn’t have too much power over another.” 

“Ok…” Stiles said, while writing out Deaton’s name and under it, balance. Pausing for a moment he then added, hates Peter. “Anything else for Deaton?” When no one spoke up he backed up a bit and chewed his lip, staring at the board. “Now the question is how do all these goals line up together and how does taking Peter captive help with them?” 

Jackson came up to nudge their shoulders together. “Kali and Deucalion working together is pretty obvious. Also, Deucalion has somewhat control over her so even if not perfectly aligned she would follow him to a point. Morell could be helping Deucalion out of loyalty. No fucking clue on Deaton.” 

“Exactly!” Scott called out. “It shows that Deaton is just working with them to trick them.” 

“How can you still be so dumb?” Lydia said scornfully as she moved up to the word taking the marker and starting to write down the possible shared motivations. “We also should account that Morell might have a separate plan in this to try and get Deucalion to settle back down. Maybe she believes if he was bonded to the land with Stiles it would bring back his old self.” 

“Why does Deucalion want Stiles?” Allison asked, sounding confused. Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Stiles closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. 

“I’m a spark and bonded to Peter. Deucalion believes that he can break the bond with Peter and then, well…” Clenching his fists, he found he couldn’t get the words out. The fear was too much, crawling up and through him. 

Erica wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him close. “We are never letting it happen. Ok? I promise we won’t let it happen.” 

Chris had let out a sharp breath when Stiles had said he was a spark and now walked up a little closer, meeting Stiles’ gaze with his own. “I agree, we won’t let that happen.” There was a compassion in his eyes that Stiles didn’t know what to do with so only gave a shaky nod in return. He was grateful that Chris obviously understood what being a spark meant as he wasn’t sure he could explain it right now. Not having Peter here with him was the most terrifying thing to happen since that night in the Argent basement with Gerard. 

They needed a plan on what to do next but it felt almost impossible now. Before he’d had Peter and his magic. But with the easy way Deaton and Morell had destroyed his wards and blocked him from Peter he felt like his magic would be useless against them. Peter had been there for every step he’d taken with his magic and panic clutched at him at the thought of doing any of this without his mate. He couldn’t lose Peter. He would have collapsed again if not for the steadying presence of Erica and Jackson on either side of them. They were keeping him focused and from spiraling into complete panic. 

“We should go to Deaton’s.” Scott said definitively as he glared around the room. 

Chris shook his head. “I don’t think that is the wisest choice at the moment. They will be expecting you to react emotionally and seeing that they didn’t try to hide their scents means they wanted you to know who did this. It’s most likely a trap of some sort at Deaton’s. Even,” The hunter held up a hand to stop Scott’s outburst, “if Deaton is only going along and planning to betray them doesn’t mean the clinic isn’t a trap.” 

Scott grumbled but accepted that might be true. Erica shifted angrily, glaring at the hunter. “And why should we trust anything you have to say?” 

Chris winced and rubbed at the back of his neck. “That’s fair and normally I’d not be willing to help you go rescue Peter. However, this is about much more than just Peter Hale. Deucalion is a danger to all of us. He won’t accept anything except absolute surrender from you wolves and I believe he wants Allison and I dead. If you don’t trust me, trust that I don’t want Deucalion to live.” 

Stiles pulled away from Erica and despite her growl, moved towards Chris. “I believe you. However, Peter is our goal and the most important part of this mission. If by your action or inaction, Peter dies then you will answer to me. He is our alpha and you will respect that.” 

Chris gave him a long measured look then nodded. “I understand.” 

Stiles felt his body release tension he hadn’t realized he was holding. The buzzing panic was still thrumming beneath his skin threatening to overwhelm him at any moment but the knowledge that Chris would truly help that settled something in him. Taking another deep breath, he looked around the room. Scott was looking mulish, Boyd and Isaac steady, Erica and Jackson were tracking his movements, Allison wouldn’t meet his gaze and Lydia gave him a serious nod. Releasing the breath he nodded at them all. They could do this. They had to do this. 

“Ok. Scott, go to Deaton’s then if you are absolutely sure about what you say. Ask him what he was doing here and _listen_ to his heartbeat. I have something for you to take with you. It’s a charm that should, theoretically, negate anything he had to hide his heartbeat and scent from you. Promise me you won’t tell him you have it.” 

Scott looked pleased then a little annoyed. “Deaton hasn’t --” 

“Did he or did he not tell you lies about me and Peter?” He wasn’t in the mood to listen to more of Scott’s campaign that Deaton was a good person. 

Scott scowled and responded sulkily. “Yes. He did.” 

“Then you will take these precautions. Please, Scott, I want you to be safe.” Stiles looked at him and tried to let his emotions bleed through better. It seemed to work as Scott softened and nodded. He went over and pulled out a bracelet to hand to Scott. It was actually more of an enhancer than a nullifier. It would enhance someone’s abilities to spot deception and know what was real or wasn’t. Stiles just hoped it would work against Deaton. He was banking on that the druid would underestimate his abilities or his hold on Scott. 

Once Scott had left the room the tension seemed to go down a little. He was pretty sure that it wouldn’t fully be down until there weren’t any Argent’s present but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. As painful as it was, he needed Chris’ expertise in this area. He had ideas but it was Chris who was actually used to planning things like this. The hunter was looking at the door Scott had gone out of with a speculative gleam in his eye. 

“What?” Stiles asked, feeling a nervousness suddenly come upon him. 

“If someone is able they should follow Scott. Just...in case.” 

He grimaced. What Chris said wasn’t untrue. “I know. I...just don’t want to put anyone in danger like that. Deucalion or Deaton or whoever the fuck is in charge doesn’t need any more leverage.” He stopped speaking before finishing the rest of his thought. The only reason he sent Scott off was because he knew (from long experience) that Scott was going to cause issues in planning if they wouldn’t agree with him about Deaton. 

“I can go.” 

Stiles startled and looked over at Isaac. The beta was the last one he thought would have volunteered for something like this. “You don’t need to do that.” 

Isaac shook his head. “I know that. But I’m the best choice and you know it. Erica and Jackson have been more for you and Peter this whole time but I’ve spent enough time with Scott that if they do catch me I might be able to make them believe I don’t care about rescuing Peter.” 

Stiles let out a shaky breath. He hated all of this so much. Dammit, he just wanted his pack to be safe and together. “Ok. If you are sure then you should go now. I do have one more thing for you that should hide your scent and heartbeat from them. Howl if something happens, you should be connected enough to us that we will know.” 

Once Isaac had left the mood in the room dropped even lower. He could feel the anxiety from Erica and Boyd and it was setting him on edge as well. Stiles moved over and leaned down with his palms flat on the table looking out at the map of Beacon Hills. His mind was racing through possibilities. He knew what Deucalion wanted (at least in part), he knew what Kali and Morell wanted. Deaton was the outlier. He shot off a quick text to Scott asking his friend to call Stiles and leave the phone on mute during the conversation with the druid. That done he looked back up at the room. Chris was also going over the map while Lydia was thoughtfully gazing at the whiteboard. Jackson and Erica were twitching around the room, glaring at Allison who was valiantly trying to ignore them both. 

Chris finally looked up to meet his gaze then jerked his head sideways towards the door leading out. Steeling himself, Stiles nodded and turned to the room at large. “Jackson, Erica and Boyd, can you guys do a quick run of the perimeter? I want to double check if anyone else was present. They might not have gotten the full way into the driveway area or maybe their scent was hidden by the others.” 

Erica growled, her eyes flashing as she stared pointedly at Allison, “I’m not leaving you with her.” 

“Allison can go with you. She can look for human tracking signs as well beyond scent.” Chris spoke up and moved to stand next to Stiles. After some more cursory grumbling, the betas moved off with Allison trailing behind them. Lydia hesitated for a moment, eyeing both Chris and Stiles thoughtfully. He tried to give her a pleading look and it must have worked because with a sigh she moved to follow them. 

“I’m going to find us some food. You look like you’re about to fall over.” 

Stiles gave her a grateful smile as she spoke and left the room. Moving over to slump slightly against one of the arm chairs he tried to give Argent a challenging look. By the raised eyebrow he got in response, he was pretty sure he failed to look even a little bit intimidating. 

“Are you all right?” 

“What do you think?” 

Chris sighed and pinched his brow. “All right beyond having your mate missing, Stiles. You don’t look very well.” 

Stiles shifted slightly and glared the best he could at the hunter. “I’m fine. Just a little nauseous. Is this really what you wanted to talk about?” 

Chris shook his head and let out a breath. “They aren’t ready to do what needs to be done to get Peter back. They might think they are but…” 

Rubbing his face with his hands, Stiles felt himself slump more into the chair. “I know. Peter and I talked about this. I mean, gods, they aren’t even trained well enough on how to fight werewolves like they need to be. Derek had no clue how to teach them.” 

“Peter trained you.” The hunter said it like a statement, not a question but Stiles felt the need to respond. 

“Yes, specifically how to fight a werewolf as a human both physically and with magic.” 

“I don’t really want to bring you either, Stiles, but...I need the back up. I don’t trust any of my hunter contacts enough to bring them in on this with so many unknowns.” Chris was staring furiously at the wall and Stiles had to push back down the instinctual anger at being not wanted. He did understand why Chris felt this way. To the hunter he was just a teenager, the same as the man’s daughter. 

“It’s not like I chose this. Think of Peter what you will but Deucalion was coming for me this spring. Peter gave me a chance to win when he took me away and trained me. Mating him was my choice, Chris. I know you think I’m too young and hell, I think I’m too young but I didn’t exactly have any good choices here. And Peter is...Peter is good to me and I love him. It sounds insane but it’s true.” 

The look he got from Chris was painful. The man’s eyes looked devastated for a brief second before he washed it all away back into his careful blank mask. “I understand not having a choice. I was ten when my father inducted me into all this. I did everything I could to save my daughter from this life but it came for her anyways. I am going to help you, for more than just Allison, for you as well. You’re a good kid, Stiles, and you are good for Peter and this pack.” 

He looked away, not sure how to respond to this admission and also really hoping he wasn’t about to cry. Normally he didn’t hold back his tears but had no desire for Chris to dismiss him as too emotional because of them. The door opening with a bang saved him from responding. Erica appeared, slightly flushed and breathing heavily. 

“Derek’s here.” 

Chris jolted to a stand from where he was leaning against the desk and Stiles felt himself go cold. 

“Where is here?” He managed to ask over the pounding of his heart. 

The blond’s mouth was set in a grim line. “In the back. He came through the forest side. His scent is older though, Jackson thinks he was here when it all went down.” 

“Shit.” Stiles moved passed her and out into the hall. Icey rage was coiling up inside him again and his mind went calm. Derek was not going to get to kill his uncle this time around. Stepping out on the patio was reminiscent of an old western. Allison had her bow strung with an arrow at the ready while Boyd and Jackson were standing tensely to one end. Derek was at the edge of the stones, fists clenched tight and a snarl on his face. The former alpha winced as Stiles came out but didn’t say anything. 

“Where is Peter?” Stiles asked, striding up to the stone circle of mountain ash. Derek looked back at him with his typical angsty expression. 

“Why should I tell you?” 

“Why else are you here if not to lead us to their trap?” Stiles fired back. He’d been hoping that Derek wasn’t actually part of this but that reply had crushed that hope. 

“I’m here to tell you what Deucalion wants.” He paused and Stiles made an angry go on gesture. “He’s going to be at the Nemeton tonight, if you want the rest of the pack to live you are going to show up alone. I’m here to make sure nobody follows you.” 

Stiles felt his mouth go slightly dry. “The pack? What about --” 

“Peter dies.” Derek’s words were like lead weights in Stiles’ chest. “That’s non-negotiable. His bond with you makes it impossible for him to ever submit to Deucalion.” 

Fighting back the anger and fear, Stiles forced himself to focus on what was in front of him. “And you? What do you get out of this?” 

“I get what is mine back. Peter stole the spark from Laura by death and then me by magic. It’s mine and this pack is mine. If you refuse, Deucalion is going to kill all of us.” Derek took a step forward and looked beseechingly at him. “Look, I don’t want you to give yourself to Deucalion. Once I have the alpha spark back we can fight him and win. I won’t do anything to you either. You can live your life however you want.” 

He wasn’t sure he had ever felt so furious as he did in this moment. “No. Now, get out. If I see you anywhere near Peter I will kill you.”

Derek frowned at him and took another step forward. “Stiles, you need to to listen to me. There is no saving Peter, we only can move forward.” 

Erica stepped up to his right side. Her eyes flashed bright blue at the former alpha. Derek flinched back, shock all over his face. “You heard Stiles. Leave here, Derek, please just leave. I don’t want to fight you. I’m in Peter’s pack now, he already has done what you couldn’t do. He’s killed three of them and he and Stiles will kill the others.”

“Peter doesn’t care about anyone. All he wants is his own power.” Derek took another step closer, his own eyes bright blue and his fangs were beginning to show. 

Stiles scoffed, rocking back on his heels. Two steps closer would do it. Time to annoy the sourwolf. “Fuck. Dude, tell me you aren’t this stupid. You were a shit alpha. You’ll be an even shittier one if you kill Peter again for the spark.” 

Derek howled and launched himself towards them just as Stiles pulled up the mountain ash circle. Derek’s body slammed into the barrier, stopping him inches from Stiles’ face. It was with grim satisfaction seeing the former alpha’s shock register. Erica looked devastated for a moment before slowly backing up and letting Boyd wrap an arm around her shoulders. Shaking his head, Stiles turned around and headed back in the house. He was full of so many conflicting emotions that he didn’t trust himself to process rationally when it came to Derek. The wolf would be trapped as long as Stiles wanted and he couldn’t bring himself to kill Derek in cold blood like that. He knew Argent would do it if he asked but the very idea made him feel sick. 

His phone buzzed and his hands were shaking as he answered it. “Hey, Scott.” 

“I was right! Deaton wants to talk to you.” Stiles and every wolf in the room winced. With deep resignation he put the phone on speaker just as Deaton got on and started talking. 

“Hello Stiles, I apologize for not being able to reach out to you before this happened. While I myself am not Peter’s biggest fan I would have never condoned such actions. Marin convinced me they were going there to talk for a treaty.” 

“Bullshit. I don’t have time for this bullshit so you either tell me right now where Peter is and how to get to him or stay the fuck out of my way. If I see you before I have Peter safely with me I will blast you where you stand. I’m getting pretty good at fireballs.” He was still shaking as he said the words but thankfully his voice came out strong. He was done with all this shit. They had his mate and he was going to make them pay. Ignoring Scott’s indignant shouting, he waited for thirty seconds before hanging up. 

He took several slow breaths before speaking again to the room in general. “We are going to arm up and then we are going to the nemeton now. I have protection amulets and charms for everyone and things to use for traps. I assume Chris and Allison can help with traps as well. We are getting Peter back tonight. We are killing Deucalion, Kali, Marin and probably Deaton. If anyone has issues with that they will stay here.” 

“We are with you.” Erica said, stepping back up to him. Boyd nodded behind her and Jackson came up to wrap an arm around his waist. 

“Don’t worry Stilinski, we got your back. The Hale pack is going to get our alpha back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting close to the end now! I'm realizing I may have to write some one shot sequels or just multiple epilogues...I got a bit too excited and put too many plot threads out there to finish up in one story.


	13. In Which Peter Has a Terrible Day (but it gets better)

Peter came back into consciousness much slower than he normally would have. It took far too long for all his senses to come back online and it wasn’t until Kali’s claws were on his face that he even noticed her presence. When he forced his eyes open he realized that even his sight was blurry. 

“Ah, the puppy is awake. Wake up all the way puppy.” Her words started in a sing song but ended in a growl as her claws dug deep into his shoulder. 

“Enough, Kali. We need him alive, remember?” Deucalion’s words were fuzzy and seemed far away. 

Struggling to move he could barely twitch his body. His limbs felt heavy and partially numb. He could feel the rumble in his chest from a growl but was unable to move his head away from the now blunt fingers that were playing with his face. Trying desperately to find equilibrium again, he breathed in and out, only to have it all shot to hell when Kali slammed his face into the ground. 

“I am going to peel every inch of skin off your body. Then I’ll let it grow back and do it all over again.” Her claws were slicing into his neck and he realized with horror he couldn’t even speak. What had they done to him? He was an alpha, mated to a spark and tied to the land. Even with wolfsbane he shouldn’t be this week. The claws on his neck vanished and he could breathe again. There was deep snarling off to his side then a roar. 

Another hand gripped and turned him. “Marin, I need you here. It sounds like he’s choking on his own blood.” 

Something cool poured itself over his eyes and he could feel the flesh knitting itself back together. Gasping, he opened them to see the druid woman kneeling over him with some sort of salve she was rubbing into his wounds. He still couldn’t move his arms or legs. 

“What did you do to me?” His voice was cracking and his throat felt on fire. 

The druid gave him an impassive look. “A shot of yellow wolfsbane mixed with holly sap and crushed mistletoe. It slows your healing to where you are practically human.” She stood up and backed back, pausing to give Deucalion a long look. “Be careful, my salve can heal him to an extent but if you injure him much more, he will die.” 

“Thank you, my dear, I will keep that in mind.” 

“Why am I alive?” Peter asked while Deucalion moved to crouch down in front of him. The blind alpha smiled. 

“I need you of course. Marin and her brother tell me that they can’t find the nemeton but that you can. Or your spark can.” The smile got wider at Peter’s snarl. “Ah, yes, your spark. He should have gotten my message by now. Of course, he would have felt your bond snap.” 

Peter froze, in all the pain he hadn’t realized he couldn’t feel Stiles. No. They couldn’t break that, they couldn’t. Terror threatened to come spilling up and out of him. He clamped his jaw tight to keep out the whine. He didn’t succeed. Deucalion ran deadly gentle fingers over his bruised face. 

“I imagine the boy is panicking now. Don’t you? He’s still so young Peter. So...corruptible. I admit, while jealous you got to have him first, I am pleased I won’t have to break him in. It’s always annoying to break someone in. At first the tears and terror are fun but they quickly get boring. Wouldn’t you agree?” 

Peter tried to surge up as rage swept through him only to let out a half scream as his legs crumbled in intense pain. Deucalion laughed and shoved him over onto his back. He laid there trembling as shooting pain raced up his body. Managing to turn his head he glared at the other alpha. “I am going to kill you.” 

Deucalion chuckled again and stood up. “No, you won’t. Derek is going to kill you, then his former betas, then he’ll either kill himself or join my pack. The spark will be mine and Beacon hills will be mine. I wonder if he’ll scream when he’s under me? I wonder how long it will take him to give into me? I wonder how long it will be until his belly is swollen with my cub?” 

Peter felt like his brain had short circuited. Confusion replaced rage for a moment. “He can’t…” 

“Oh.” The alpha breathed out, kneeling back down. “You don’t know. Fascinating. The great Peter Hale, connoisseur of old magics, doesn’t know something about sparks. Now this is even better. You missed out on your chance. I was almost worried he’d already have a cub in him and I’d have to deal with it. Yes, Peter, that’s the amazing gift a spark can give you, even males. A child of your own, made by magic.” 

Peter felt dizzy and fear turned him cold. Stiles could get pregnant. Deucalion was still speaking but he couldn’t hear the words anymore. Stiles could get pregnant. Stiles' scent had changed in the last couple days. Since...after the darach and the nemeton. It had been so subtle that he’d been convinced he was imagining it. No, it couldn’t be. But...Stiles could get pregnant. He wanted to sob and thrash. He wanted to tear Deucalion to pieces and go find his mate and never let the boy out of his sight again. Stiles was pregnant. Stiles was going to have a baby, his baby. 

Another voice jolted him out of the fog he’d been sinking into. Turning his neck he saw Deaton come into the room. A snarl ripped its way out of his throat. How dare any of them do this to him, to Stiles. He was going to destroy anyone who ever had harmed his mate. Deucalion stood up and turned towards the former Hale emissary. Peter wished he had ripped the man’s throat out back when he had been alpha. 

“Alan, what news?” 

Deaton met Peter’s eyes, his face serene as usual. “Scott came by the clinic as I predicted. He’s convinced I’m only pretending to help you and he was easy to sway against Peter again. His main fear right now is for the Argent girl and for Stiles.” 

Deucalion hummed. “As expected. Where is he now?” 

“I had him call Stiles but the boy hung up on him as soon as he heard I was there so I sent him back to the house for now. Scott is going to try and discover their plan and then coordinate with me so I can help him.” Deaton moved to crouch down next to Peter and tilted his head in consideration. “Marin does know her wolfsbane. This is a masterful job. The broken legs are a nice touch as well.” 

“Traitor.” Peter said, growling as much as his abused throat could. 

“I swore no oaths to you, Peter Hale.” The druid stood back up. “My oaths were to Talia alone and with her gone so went my ties to the Hale pack.” 

“Your oaths were to our pack. To the Hale alpha, whomever it would be.” Peter struggled, trying to stand again but the pain was so intense he almost blacked out. 

By the time he came back to awareness both Deaton and Deucalion had left the room. He had no idea how long he laid there. Without the stimulation of others in the room he slipped in and out of consciousness as he could feel every bone and pieces of flesh knit itself back together. It was an agonizing process and his mind was trapped in a loop of fear for Stiles and their baby. At one point he realized he was crying and didn’t have the energy to make himself stop. 

By the time Kali came to get him he could feel his limbs again though movement was full of pain. He didn’t even try to fight Kali as she dragged him up by one arm and half dragged him out and down the hall. Every step sent shooting pain through his legs and he barely made it outside before collapsing on the ground, gasping in front of Deucalion. The blind alpha chuckled and reached out a hand to drag it through his hair. Deucalion tugged hard on his head until he was forced to bare his neck to the other alpha. 

“Good boy.” Deucalion said, his tone mocking. Kali ran her clawed hand down the side of his throat and giggled at the droplets of blood that formed. He seethed in rage at the situation but stayed still. It was better for them to believe him more incapable than he was. Much more important than trying to stop the bitter humiliation they were putting him through. Deucalion dropped his head and Kali finished dragging him over to a vehicle that he was thrown into. 

By the time the vehicle stopped, Peter could fully wriggle his toes again and the pain was beginning to fade. Kali dug her claws into his arm when she threw him out of the SUV and he managed to make himself crumble to the ground with a pained grunt. Smirking, she shoved him on his back and placed her clawed foot down on his neck. She looked away at the sound of another vehicle approaching. When the door opened he snarled before he could help it. 

Derek walked straight over to him, a cocky smirk on the former alpha’s face. “Hi uncle Peter. How is that spark you stole from me working out?” Kneeling down, Derek ran a finger down his cheek. “I’m looking forward to getting it back really soon.” 

“Derek.” Deucalion reached down and Derek’s eyes flashed before he tilted his neck in submission to the other alpha. “What happened at the house? I told you to just give my message and leave.” 

Derek growled but stopped as the blind alpha squeezed his neck. “Stiles surprised me. Trapped me in mountain ash.” 

“It was a very clever trap.” Deaton came up next to them. “The mountain ash was worked into the mortar beneath the stones themselves. To finish the circle Stiles would call the ash into crevices he had made. Very effective and someone only another magic user could release someone from.” 

Deucalion still scowled but released Derek’s neck and moved away. Derek stood up giving one last venomous glare at Peter before stalking closer to Deaton. Peter idly considered for a moment trying to warn his nephew of the druid’s betrayal but decided not to. Derek was a fool and he’d spent a lot of time trying to save someone who didn’t want saving already. It hurt to think of becoming the last Hale but then he remembered his unborn child and let that strengthen his resolve. He would not be the last Hale, he had to survive this, Stiles had to survive this. 

Marin came over and tied his hands in front with wolfsbane soaked ropes. Then he was dragged up and through the woods. Pain still flared up through his body but it was lessening. He just had to hope that they didn’t notice. If they decided to give him another dose of Marin’s concoction he’d have no hope to fight anyone. The thrum of the nemeton grew the closer they got to it. He was able to deflect them from finding it by nudging it aside every time they would get too close. He wasn’t sure how long this had gone on until Deucalion stopped and turned towards him with a growl. 

“This isn’t working. Marin, you said if we were just with Peter we would find it.” 

“I said it was more likely to find it but it is possible that his connection isn’t as strong with it as I thought it was.” Her voice was calm and unwavering, even in the midst of Deucalion’s ire. 

The blind alpha snarled. “Then how do we find it? You told me we needed it to do your ritual.” 

“Patience.” Marin walked up to him now. He jerked backwards but Kali was there instantly, digging her claws into him to hold him still. The druid placed her palm on his chest and pushed. It felt like he’d been shoved under water. All the noises around him were muted and vague. He snarled and tried to shove back but he was still too weak. By the time she stepped back he almost collapsed again, panting heavily. She turned to Deucalion and smiled. “It’s this way, I can feel it now.” 

Everything still felt slightly fuzzy and it wasn’t until they walked into the clearing with the Nemeton that Peter realized what was wrong. Marin had somehow gotten into him and formed some sort of pack bond with him. It made him furious but it was as if something was blocking him from forming the will to fight against it. It was like a soothing burn on his mind, dragging his thoughts away every time he tried to concentrate on the bond. But then they went into the clearing and Stiles was sitting on the stump of the Nemeton. 

His mate’s face darkened as they appeared but the boy stayed sitting. The air around the clearing was completely still. He couldn’t hear any noises except for the thump of everyone’s heartbeats and the crinkling leaves as they moved forward. Deucalion halted about twenty feet away from the Nemeton. The alpha’s eyes were bright red and they stared fixedly on the spark in front of them. 

Stiles rolled his shoulders and leaned back on his hands. The sharp eyes were flicking around the group of them, pausing to rest on Peter for a moment before bringing them back to Deucalion. Peter could barely hear his mate’s heartbeat and it was tearing him apart inside. The urge to protect, hold, fight, was thrumming through him stronger and stronger. Kali’s clawed hands were digging deeper into his arm and side but he barely noticed the pain so intent on his mate and cub. 

“Deucalion.” Stiles’ voice held no trace of fear in it and his brown eyes held nothing but contempt. 

Deucalion growled, the sound vibrating through the forest. “Spark. I see you got my message. Cruel of you to leave the messenger trapped as he was.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Right. Cruel of me to leave the werewolf trapped in mountain ash that had just tried to attack me after trying to convince me to help him kill you and I said no.” 

The alpha of alphas smirked. “Well, Derek isn’t known for his subtlety. If you were hoping that would divide us...well, you’ll have to do better than that. I would have been disappointed if Derek hadn’t tried that line.” 

“Why would I need to divide you when you’ve already done such a good job of that yourself? Everyone here in this clearing has a different agenda tonight.” The boy’s lips played with a smile. “Nobody is truly on your side, you know that, right? The closest is Marin but even she has a different hope for tonight’s outcome.” 

Deucalion’s smirk turned to a hard smile. “They do call you the clever one. Believe me, boy, I’m very aware of how everyone wants this night to go. What you underestimate is how good I actually am. You think you can take out my weakest pack members then just snap your fingers and get rid of me? I am the alpha of alphas, the demon wolf, and no pathetic half insane wolf or his spark fucktoy is going to stand in my way.” 

The alpha’s fangs had started to elongate now and he was tensing his body to spring. Stiles stood up, cracking his hands. “All right. Demon Wolf. I’ll play your game. Come on and get me then, if you’re so strong.” 

Deucalion roared and leapt forward. Peter felt fear go through him. No. No. _No_. Gathering what strength he had, he roared and threw himself out of Kali’s grasp towards Deucalion. The crack of a gunshot echoed through the clearing. Deucalion was thrown to the side as the bullet slammed into the alpha’s stomach. Peter roared again as he managed to rip the ropes off his body and land on top of the furious alpha. 

Deucalion thrust a clawed hand into his shoulder but Peter’s own claws were already digging into the other man’s chest and stomach. Deucalion shifted, surging upward and managed to throw Peter off to the side. He landed heavily but quickly slammed back into the wolf. The two of them crashed back over onto the ground in a haze of blood and pain. Peter could hear others roaring around him and the furious voice of Stiles shouting orders to others. Gunfire lit up the clearing for a moment before he heard the howling voices of his pack. Their presence gave him new strength and he dragged Deucalion back up to throw the alpha into the base of the Nemeton. 

The two alphas paused for a moment. Both catching their breath and assessing the other for weaknesses. Panting, Peter held a hand over his side which was bleeding sluggishly. He could see blain veins leading from the bullet wound in the other alpha and he smiled grimly. It seemed his truce with Argent had paid off. Waiting for Deucalion’s next move he almost missed the attack coming from his left. He managed to twist away just in time as Derek’s claws almost tore through his throat. Slamming a knee up he got Derek in the stomach and followed up quickly with a slash across his nephew’s face. 

He heard another howl and turned in time to catch a claw to the shoulder. Deucalion was fully shifted now and before Peter could move back up a clawed hand settled around his throat. Derek snarled and leapt back towards him only to be swept aside by Deucalion. “Not yet.” Deucalion told Derek, his voice strong with an alpha command. Peter was finding it harder to breathe but he sank his claws and ripped into whatever flesh of Deucalion’s he could find. Deucalion had to drop him then to deal with Derek who roared a challenge and attacked the alpha. 

Peter hit the ground, gasping. Turning away from the fight in front of him he tried to find Stiles. He saw Kali first. She was engaged in a heavy fight with Erica, Boyd and Jackson. The three betas were breathing heavily but Kali was looking the worse for wear. He felt a surge of pride go through him at the sight. Stiles, when he found him, was wrapped up in some sort of plant warfare with Deaton and Marin. Plants were sprouting up everywhere, trying to attack the other magic users. He pulled himself to his feet and headed towards Main who was closest to him. So distracted by the fight in front of her she didn’t notice him until his claws sank into her throat and ripped it out. Deaton fell over and Stiles’ vines were on the druid immediately, wrapping the man up and tightening. 

A gunshot made him flinch and turn only to see Kali falling over dead with a bullet through the brain. Satisfaction settled into him and he hobbled over to where Deaton was still fighting at the vines. The druid’s eyes widened and Peter could feel a tug of magic. He was too fast for the druid. Watching the former Hale emissary crumble to the ground, dead, he felt something snap back into place. The relief at feeling Stiles and his pack bonds again made him fall over to the ground. 

Another gunshot made him twist back around to see Derek fall to the ground. His nephew was still alive but bleeding heavily. Deucalion jerked backwards as the gun went off again. Stiles came into view a gun in hand. He forced himself back up and tried to catch up to his mate. He didn’t want Stiles anywhere near the other two wolves even if they were injured. Deucalion tried to lunge at Stiles but the boy calmly put five more rounds into the alpha. Peter forced himself forward on shaking legs even as he heard the other alpha’s heartbeat stop. 

Whining, he wrapped himself around Stiles when the boy was a few feet away from Derek. Stiles stilled before he turned and wrapped around Peter. He could hear Derek’s heartbeat slowly fade as he tucked his face into Stiles’ shoulder and just breathed in his mate’s scent. It was Stiles usual smell, earth tinged with ozone, but now he could pick out the underlying sweet spice of his cub. A sob wracked his body, he had come so close to losing them both. 

Hearing Derek’s wheezing breaths he pulled away and tenderly cupped Stiles’ face in his hands. Stiles had tears flowing as well. “Peter, gods, I was so scared.” 

“I know, sweetheart, I was too.” 

Turning to look at Derek he felt part of himself shatter. Even against all odds he had hoped that someday Derek would forgive him. He had wanted them to be a pack and family again. Shaking slightly, he knelt down next to his nephew and placed a hand over Derek’s heart. Every second the beat grew fainter and Peter felt another sob build up. Stiles’ hand on his shoulder steadied him, anchoring him to the present. Derek’s eyes were starting to fade.

“I’m sorry Derek...I’m so sorry…” 

His nephew’s heart stopped beating. Throwing back his head he let out an anguished howl. The betas behind him added their own howls to the night sky. Stiles held him tightly from behind and the rest of his pack crowded around them, offering what comfort they could. Jackson helped him stand, the beta a solid thrum of support in the bond. Peter let himself gain strength from the boy as he turned to look at Chris and Allison. The two hunters were standing respectfully to the side, weapons lowered. “Thank you, for helping my pack.” 

Chris nodded to him. “No thanks is needed. We did what we needed to in order to remove a threat to all of Beacon Hills.” 

Stiles snorted. “Just say you’re welcome and don’t be a dick about it.” 

The hunter gave Stiles an unamused look. “You’re welcome.” 

Erica whined slightly. “What do we do now? With the bodies?” 

Everyone grimaced and looked around. Stiles sighed deeply and walked over to the nemeton and placed a bloody hand on the stump. “They can all stay here. The earth will take care of them.” Everyone jumped, startled, as tree roots and vines came out of the ground to wrap around the bodies to slowly pull them into the earth. The only one left was Derek. “We can bring him back and bury him with his family.” Stiles said softly. Whining Peter pulled Stiles back into his arms and held on tight. 

Boyd and Erica carried Derek back through the forest until they reached the cars. Isaac was waiting for them all there and only hesitated briefly before hugging Peter. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t…” The beta trailed off and hunched into himself. Peter rubbed his nose across the boy’s forehead. 

“It’s ok, pup, I understand. You did what you could and I’m proud of you.” He looked up at the rest of them and smiled as much as he could. “I’m proud of all of you. Thank you, I know I have done little to earn your loyalty. I promise to not let it be misplaced.” Lydia was standing behind Isaac and gave him a short nod before she took Jackson up in a hug. 

The car ride to the old Hale house was silent. Isaac and Boyd took charge of digging when they came up to the family graveyard. Stiles was a constant warmth at his side and the love he felt for his mate had never felt stronger. Nothing could have prepared him for how much he had come to care for Stiles. Remembering back to when he had put all this in motion and it had been barely more than a game to him he felt ashamed. This amazing young man had given him far more than he had ever known to hope for. 

Once the body was placed in the grave and covered back up, Peter knelt down next to it. “I wanted to be an alpha again but never at this price. I’m sorry Derek for how much I failed you. I’m sorry for Laura, for everything. I love you, nephew. I’ll always love you.” 

The other betas and Stiles said a few words of their own before they turned to leave just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. Exhaustion had settled in now but they all made it into the house before collapsing in various places in the large living room. Stiles dragged him into the showere and gently cleaned off all the dirt and blood. Then he was dragged to the bed and aggressively cuddled until he was finally able to relax and fall into sleep. 

He woke up from a nightmare of Deucalion ripping Stiles’ stomach open. Blind panic hit him for a moment when he saw he was alone in the room. He had never felt like this before as he stumbled out of the room calling for his mate. Stiles met him in the hallway and he broke down sobbing in his mate’s arms. 

“It’s ok, Peter, it’s ok, I’m ok, I’ve got you. Peter, I’ve got you.” 

It took a while for his mind to calm enough to release the tight grip he had on Stiles. By then he could hear the rest of the pack awake and hovering anxiously in the kitchen. “I’m sorry.” 

Stiles grabbed his shoulders and glared at him. “You will not apologize for anything right now. Got it? Gods, Peter...I can’t even imagine what that felt like for you to lose our connection plus the pack and then Derek. You can react however you need to. No judgement from any of us. Now, come on, you need to eat something. Everyone is skipping school for the rest of the week and we are all just going to stay in the house and bond.” 

Nodding shakily he followed Stiles into the kitchen where he was briefly mobbed by Erica who took over cuddling him while Stiles finished making food. He was able to insist that someone else handle cleanup so he could bundle him and Stiles up on the couch together. By dinner time he was feeling more balanced and the pack bonds were glowing strongly. Because of this he was able when they sat back down in the couches with food in their hands to ask a question that had been worrying him all day. 

“Where is Scott?” 

Everyone in the room winced and Stiles looked away. Frowning he looked towards Lydia. She grimaced but did answer him. “Scott was...not enthused with Stiles’ plan for your recovery and argued against it fiercely. Stiles then banished him out and told him not to come back until he was ready to fully accept you as his alpha. None of us have heard anything since that.” 

Growling, he nuzzled into Stiles’ hair. “I’m sorry love.” 

Stiles shrugged, still slightly tense. “I shouldn’t have been surprised and I guess I wasn’t really...but, shit, I hoped he had finally gotten his head out of his ass but it doesn’t seem like it. I think we’ll have to find him a different pack.” 

“Satomi Ito is outside of Redding and she often takes in omega bitten wolves and teaches them how to find balance and peace. She’s very non-violent so it might be good for him.” 

Stiles relaxed slightly. “Good, that sounds good. I’ll reach out again after we’ve recovered somewhat. Speaking of, are you feeling well enough to renew some of the wards? The house wards weren’t that damaged but the perimeter ones were almost obliterated. I can’t put them all back in place in one go but I wanted to have something better up before we sleep again.” 

“After dinner, yes.” 

Stiles gave him a smile. “Good.” 

The rest of the week passed in much the same way. They slept, ate, snuggled and fixed up the wards. Stiles used all the pack members to help give strength to them and also tied the pack to them. This way, he explained, if they were ever under attack again the whole pack would feel it and not just Stiles. On Thursday Lydia also went into the school and brought back the make up work for everyone. Peter was incredibly grateful for the time with the pack and he soaked it all up. By Sunday he finally felt stable again and was able to let Stiles out of his sight for longer than an hour without panicking. 

Stiles going back to school was going to be extremely difficult and he still hadn’t figured out how to explain the pregnancy. He’d start subconsciously rubbing Stiles’ stomach and twitched every time he saw Stiles lift something. The pack had begun to give him weird looks but he was terrified to say anything outloud in case it wasn’t true. He’d managed to secretly do research and discovered that the baby’s heart wouldn’t start beating until Stiles was five to six weeks along. This was going to be the longest month of his life. 

Once the pack was back in school he immediately started doing as much research as he possibly could about sparks and pregnancy. He knew he would need all the proof and information he could have when he finally told Stiles. Waiting was hard and while he had managed to pull back the hovering a little he couldn’t help it as his instincts were on overdrive. Thankfully, training and becoming a cohesive pack took a lot of energy. The progress they were all making made him extremely pleased. Having a strong pack would be vital in keeping their cub safe. 

The other projects he worked on were assimilating himself even better into the Beacon Hills community. He had managed to buy up the land in between his house and the Hale property line which pleased him. Having the whole area fenced was another project he began work on with a contractor. It took a great deal of planning because of the terrain. They needed something that could be built up and around the hilly areas as well as multiple small cliffs, ravines and streams. 

These plans distracted him so that he didn’t pay much attention to what Stiles was doing. He’d kept the boy aware of his plans but Stiles hadn’t seemed very interested in joining the meetings so he let it go. He hadn’t realized how preoccupied he had become until one Saturday morning about a week out from when he thought he’d be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat that he was completely blindsided when Stiles marched up to him and shoved a pregnancy test in his face. Taking in his mate’s glare he zeroed in on the little plastic strip in front of him. In all his careful plans he had completely forgotten there were human ways to tell if someone was pregnant. The device had a little positive sign on it and he felt his heart beat furiously. Looking back at Stiles he opened his mouth to say something but Stiles beat him to it. 

“The actual fuck, Peter. I swear to the wolf gods if this is why you’ve been acting shifty as shit around me for the last three weeks I am going sexile you for a month.” 

For once in his life Peter had absolutely no idea what to say. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Joy was warring with fear as he took in Stiles’ furious expression. “I didn’t…” He finally managed to croak out. “...I didn’t know for sure. I was waiting until I could hear its heartbeat. I...Stiles...I love you. Please forgive me. I was just so afraid I could be wrong. I didn’t even know it was possible until Deucalion said something and I…” 

Stiles deflated abruptly. Groaning, the boy ran a hand through his hair. “You stupid idiot. Look, I’m still kind of freaking out about this and I’m still pissed you didn’t tell me but please don’t look at me like I’m about to do some terrible thing.” Stiles’ expression softened slightly. “I’m not going to get rid of our baby, Peter.” 

Relief flooded through him and he practically fell on top of Stiles, hugging him fiercely. Stiles grumbled but hugged him back. Trembling, Peter managed to maneuver them over to the couch so they could sit down. “I am sorry. I sort of panicked and didn’t know...I wanted to have as much information as possible before telling you.” 

“I get that, but Peter, you have to tell me these things, ok? Even just possibilities. I know I tend to freak out but this is not something you should have kept a secret.” 

Peter winced again but kept his eyes on Stiles. “Do you mean it? Do you want this? It’s not something either of us knew was possible and you’re still in high school.” 

Sighing, Stiles slumped back into the couch. “I’m still just trying to process that I’m somehow magically growing a baby inside of me right now, dude. But yes, I mean it. I knew that when I bonded with you my life would stay here in Beacon Hills. You better have found some magic healer though that can help us through this because like hell I’m going to a hospital and end up being some government experiment.” 

Peter perked up, yes, this was something he could prove himself on. “Yes, I found a witch healer in San Francisco that had experience with irregular pregnancies due to magic. I can make us an appointment as soon as you want. I also have several old journals I just got in from male sparks that gave birth.” 

Finally, Stiles smiled at him. “You big sappywolf. Fine. I forgive you. Now take me to the bed and ravage me.” 

Peter raised his eyebrows. “What happened to sexiling?” 

“That was before you were all sweet and terrified then sappy and shit. Also it made me horny as fuck. Come on, alpha, ravage your pregnant mate.” 

A surge of need buzzed through him. “Oh, you evil thing, you really shouldn’t tease your alpha like that boy.” 

The cheeky grin he got in response ripped away the last of his objections and with a growl he pounced. He still carefully scooped up his mate and pulled the boy into the room to lay him out on the bed. Capturing Stiles’ lips in a kiss he slowly worked to divest the boy of his clothes. His own got lost somewhere during the sweet kisses and gentle touches. Desire burned between them and he wasn’t sure they had ever made love like this before. It almost felt like they were discovering each other for the first time again. 

They kissed like they would never kiss anyone else. Stiles pulled him in close and ran desperate fingers over his body. “I love you so much.” The words felt like fresh air across his skin and moaned low in his throat. He took his time opening Stiles up, letting himself enjoy every cry of pleasure he could get out of his mate. By the time he pushed in they were both desperate with want. It didn’t take long for either of them to reach orgasm and soon they were simply tangled up together, enjoying the afterglow. 

Rubbing a hand over his mate’s belly, Peter felt fierce joy run through him. He had done the impossible. He had found a mate and family again. The Hale spark was his, the Hale land was his and he would protect all of it with everything he had. Stiles smiled down at him and he revised the statement. They would protect the land, they would raise their cub, they would build a pack that would never break. Surging upward, he met his mate in a kiss. Together, they could get through anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, we reach the end. I almost added one more chapter but decided that this story arch concluded in this chapter. I do have an idea now for a sequel so I'm going to go and ahead and make this into a series. Fair warning though - it might be a little while before I get to it. I am about a 4th of the way done with the sequel to How It's Meant to Be and I really want to get that one out sometime in November so it will be my focus for a while. 
> 
> Huge thank you to everyone who stuck with me! Longest story I've wrote yet and to think it just started as my desire to see more kidnapped Stiles stories and to experiment writing smut. But I've quickly discovered that I am absolutely incapable of keeping myself from world building. Even my Drabble story has world building in it.


End file.
